ProPublica: ProPublica Partner Sues Mississippi County for Blocking Access to Search Warrants. “A joint investigation found that many Mississippi courts thwart public scrutiny of search warrants. Experts say that violates long-standing norms of public access and the state’s public records law.”
Bloomberg: Google Keyword-Search Warrants Questioned by Colorado Lawyers. “After five people were killed in a 2020 arson in Colorado, law enforcement officials failed to turn up any leads through their initial investigative techniques. So they served a warrant to Google for anyone who had searched for the address of the fire, according to a court motion.”
9News: Green Valley Ranch murder case: Google evidence will be allowed at teen’s trial. “Gavin Seymour, then 16 years old, Kevin Bui, also 16 years old at the time, and an unnamed 15-year-old boy were arrested in connection with the case. Police said the search warrant served on Google showed that the suspects had searched for the exact address — 5312 N. Truckee St. — multiple times in the two weeks before the fire.”
Denver Post: “Digital dragnet” or necessary tool? Denver police’s use of controversial Google search technique in deadly arson draws legal fight. “More than three months had passed since five family members died in an arson fire and investigators still had no leads on who set the house ablaze on the quiet street in northeast Denver. They’d authored nearly two dozen search warrants since the Aug. 5, 2020, fire with no luck. But on Nov. 19, 2020, Denver police served a warrant asking Google to turn over information about anyone who had searched the address of the burned house in the Green Valley Ranch neighborhood during the 15 days prior to the fire.”
TechCrunch: Ancestry says it fought two police requests to search its DNA database. “Consumer genomics company Ancestry has confirmed it fought two U.S. law enforcement requests to access its DNA database in the past six months, but that neither request resulted in turning over customer or DNA data.”
BuzzFeed News: A Court Tried To Force Ancestry.com To Open Up Its DNA Database To Police. The Company Said No.. “Ancestry.com, the largest DNA testing company in the world, was served a search warrant to give police access to its database of some 16 million DNA profiles, but the company did not comply.”
The Register: To catch a thief, go to Google with a geofence warrant – and it will give you all the details . “At 1030 on April 27, 2019, four unidentified individuals attempted to rob a Brinks armored truck parked outside of Michaels, an art supply and home decor store at the Point Loomis Shopping Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. To find out who they are, local authorities plan to ask Google.”
Ancestry: Your Privacy is our Top Priority. “Your privacy is important to us. That’s why we want to share our position on a recent event where a Florida judge issued a search warrant to allow law enforcement to search all of GEDmatch, an open data personal genomics database. Following the issuance of the search warrant, GEDmatch opened its database of nearly one million users — beyond those who had consented to such access — within 24 hours. Ancestry believes that GEDmatch could have done more to protect the privacy of its users, by pushing back on the warrant or even challenging it in court.”
The Daily Beast: Manhattan DA Made Google Give Up Information on Everyone in Area as They Hunted for Antifa. “Reverse search warrants have been used in other parts of the country, but this is the first time one was disclosed in New York. Unlike a traditional warrant, where law enforcement officials request information on a specific phone or individual, reverse warrants allow law enforcement to target an entire neighborhood.”
Techdirt: FBI Serves Incredibly Broad Warrant To 8chan, Demanding Info On All Users Who Responded To A Shooter’s Post. “In this case, an investigation into a shooting at a California mosque has led the FBI to the pages of 8chan. Postings at the site — along with some at Facebook — have linked the shooter to the Christchurch shooting in New Zealand. According to the affidavit [PDF], the FBI believes the California mosque shooter was ‘inspired and/or educated’ by the New Zealand’s shooters manifesto and actions.”
Buzzfeed: The Government Has Dropped Its Demand That Facebook Not Tell Users About Search Warrants. “In making the decision, prosecutors did not concede the legal arguments raised by Facebook and civil liberties and electronic privacy groups against the nondisclosure orders attached to the search warrants. According to court papers filed jointly by Facebook and the US attorney’s office in Washington on Wednesday, prosecutors determined that the underlying investigation that prompted the search warrants — the details of which are under seal — had ‘progressed … to the point where the [nondisclosure orders] are no longer needed.’”
BuzzFeed: Facebook Is Fighting A Gag Order Over Search Warrants For User Account Information. “New public court filings — in an otherwise sealed case — reveal a brewing First Amendment fight between Facebook and federal prosecutors over an order blocking the company from alerting users about search warrants for account information.”
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