Wireless Internet Searches: How the Fourth Amendment Applies to Police Searches of Information Accessed over a Wireless Internet Connection

Authors

Taylor Hobin

Abstract

In a series of rulings by the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, it is suggested that a person may not have an expectation of privacy in some computer files that are accessible through a secured, or unsecured, wireless network. This Note uses the reasoning in these court decisions to create a framework for analyzing the Fourth Amendment's application to secured and unsecured wireless Internet networks.

This Note concludes that the trespass analysis derived from United States v. Jones would establish a more predictable and functional standard when analyzing a search of a wireless Internet network. This is because the court can focus on what matters: the constitutional protection of the area that contains the wireless network.

Recommended Citation

Taylor Hobin, Wireless Internet Searches: How the Fourth Amendment Applies to Police Searches of Information Accessed over a Wireless Internet Connection, 41 Hastings Const. L.Q. 681 (2014).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly/vol41/iss3/6