feds try to argue touch tone content needs no wiretap order

[Perry E. Metzger]

    Just about everyone knows that the FBI must obtain a formal
    wiretap order from a judge to listen in on your phone calls
    legally. But the U.S. Department of Justice believes that police
    don't need one if they want to eavesdrop on what touch tones you
    press during the call.

    Those touch tones can be innocuous ("press 0 for an operator"). Or
    they can include personal information including bank account
    numbers, passwords, prescription identification numbers, Social
    Security numbers, credit card numbers, and so on--all of which
    most of us would reasonably view as private and confidential.

    That brings us to New York state, where federal prosecutors have
    been arguing that no wiretap order is necessary. They insist that
    touch tones cannot be "content," a term of art that triggers legal
    protections under the Fourth Amendment.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10138074-38.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-PoliticsandLaw

-- 
Perry E. Metzger		perry at piermont.com

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