Judge Refuses Feds Access To User Data From Google, Yahoo, Skype

In the recent past, we have seen how the judiciary has given NSA and other agencies a green signal at every illegal wiretapping stop. However, there is at least one judge who has now refused to grant the federal government access to the user data from Google, Yahoo, Skype and Verizon.


David Waxse

The most intriguing thing about this whole case is that the federal government wanted to access emails, instant messages and all other user data from a number of companies. The pretext that the government provided was that it was investigating the theft of $5000 worth of equipment from Sprint.

So apparently, the federal government wanted to spy on thousands of pieces of user data to investigate this theft. Naturally, the judge presiding over the case, Magistrate Judge David Waxse, refused to grant this access.

After hearing the government’s case, the judge said he was appalled over how much snooping the government wanted to do. According to him, this was akin to asking post office to hand over their “all mail ever sent by or delivered to a certain address so that the government can open and read all the mail” all to find possible evidence of a crime.

Although in most cases, judiciary has been more than complacent towards granting access to the likes of NSA. However, judges like the one presiding over the said case are a ray of hope that the judiciary can still confront the federal government over its unconstitutional ways.

Courtesy: Business Insider

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Salman

Salman Latif is a software engineer with a specific interest in social media, big data and real-world solutions using the two.Other than that, he is a bit of a gypsy. He also writes in his own blog. You can find him on Google+ and Twitter .

This Post Has One Comment

  1. Tsais

    Just watch his career taking a sudden downturn…

    Only obedient judges are welcome in the new American nightmare.

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