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Privacy

by Mike Masnick

Mon, Jul 2nd 2012 4:17pm




Filed Under:
malcolm harris, occupy protests, privacy, standing, warrants

Companies:
twitter


Twitter Forced To Hand Over Occupy Protestor's Info

from the privacy? dept

We recently wrote about Twitter standing up for a user, Malcolm Harris, who had participated in the Occupy Wall St. protests, and whose info was sought by the government under a 2703(d) order (which has fewer protections than an ordinary warrant). Twitter told Harris about the order, and Harris sought to have it blocked -- but the court claimed he had no standing to do so, as it was just an issue between the government and Twitter. Twitter pushed back, noting that individuals control the content of their own account, so Harris should have standing. Unfortunately, a NYC judge has told Twitter to give up Harris' info, though it did say that the government would need to get a warrant for the last day's worth of info, due to a technicality on timing. The court basically punts on the larger issues, focusing on the fact that most of the information requested, Harris' tweets, are already public, and thus there's little to be concerned about. Of course, if that's the case, it's unclear why the government needs to request info from Twitter in the first place...


19 Comments | Leave a Comment

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  •  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jul 2nd, 2012 @ 4:23pm

    Twitparency

    Twitter Reports 679 US Government User Information Requests In The First Half Of 2012, Folding On 75% Of Them


    Zero Hedge Link

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

  •  
    icon
    Torg (profile), Jul 2nd, 2012 @ 4:26pm

    "Of course, if that's the case, it's unclear why the government needs to request info from Twitter in the first place..."

    When all you have is a warrant, everything starts to look like a criminal's house.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

  •  
    identicon
    the cleptoid, Jul 2nd, 2012 @ 4:28pm

    twitter is no different to paypal, barclays, or most of western news media.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

  •  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jul 2nd, 2012 @ 4:41pm

    DECISION AND ORDER

    DECISION AND ORDER by Judge Matthew A. Sciarrino, Jr., June 30, 2012


    (H/T Ars Technica)

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

    •  
      icon
      Mike Masnick (profile), Jul 2nd, 2012 @ 5:43pm

      Re: DECISION AND ORDER

      Er, it's also embedded in the post where you can download it...

       

      [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

      •  
        identicon
        Anonymous Coward, Jul 2nd, 2012 @ 6:10pm

        Re: Re: DECISION AND ORDER

        Er, it's also embedded in the post where you can download it...


        Not on my platform.

        I browse without javascript. And flash isn't even installed at all—have to switch to a different machine to watch C-SPAN.

        I suppose I'm in a minority here. But the inconvenience is a whole lot less than the inconvenience of getting pwnd.

         

        [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

        •  
          icon
          AzureSky (profile), Jul 3rd, 2012 @ 6:41am

          Re: Re: Re: DECISION AND ORDER

          if java and flash "pwn" your system....then your doing it wrong.

          I have been online since the dos days... I have gotten all of 3 viruses in that time, all my own damn fault(opening risky files)

          and during that time, I have browsed/haunted the seedier side of the internet.

           

          [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

  •  
    identicon
    abc gum, Jul 2nd, 2012 @ 6:05pm

    Yet another example of American Exceptionalism. America taking exception to the rights of its citizens.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

  •  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jul 2nd, 2012 @ 7:42pm

    Example

    The Feds just needs someone to make an example of.

    If you think the feds are watching you, you may not want to tweet as much.Or Comment as much...Shit! I had better shut up!

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

  •  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jul 2nd, 2012 @ 9:56pm

    Our government is so hypocritical it disgusts me. They make talking points about how China, Iran, Egypt, etc. censors anti-government speech, which is the definition of free speech, while persecuting anyone who points that out.

    When government is not for the people, it is against the people.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

  •  
    icon
    ComputerAddict (profile), Jul 3rd, 2012 @ 6:08am

    "...focusing on the fact that most of the information requested, Harris' tweets, are already public..."

    I like that... "Most" ... Most of the information on my driver's license is "public" you can find my name / address in the phone book, you can find my photo / eye color / etc on facebook profile photo which is public... so since 90% of the information is public why should they need a warrant to get Drivers license # and D.O.B. Or if you have an older license from NH they used to put SSN on there (Clarification, I am not from NH, but had friends that had these licenses, you could request that they not put it on there, but had to proactively say so).

    But hey "Most" of that information is public so its okay to just hand out.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

    •  
      identicon
      Anonymous Coward, Jul 3rd, 2012 @ 8:12am

      Re:

      Reading comprehension failure? THE COURT said... then your quote...

      This was the basis for denying Twitter's objection. Because 90% of the information is already public, then the rest should just be handed over.

       

      [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

  •  
    icon
    weneedhelp (profile), Jul 3rd, 2012 @ 9:01am

    it's unclear why the government needs to request info from Twitter in the first place...

    Intimidation.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

  •  
    identicon
    référencement google, Oct 31st, 2012 @ 7:53am

    Merci pour le partage, c'est très bon à savoir. Je dois dire que je ne regrette en rien de m'être abonné à votre weblog. Continuez !

    expert seo http://googlepandacestquoi.wordpress.com référencement internet

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]


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