{"id":51455,"date":"2015-07-28T02:41:50","date_gmt":"2015-07-28T02:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=51455"},"modified":"2015-07-28T02:41:50","modified_gmt":"2015-07-28T02:41:50","slug":"feds-can-read-your-email","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds Can Read Your Email"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/br><\/p>\n

Your email is subject to warrantless searches.–PC Pitstop<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

Feds Can Read Your Email<\/h4>\n

by Bob Rankin<\/p>\n

If you need some motivation to catch up on reading your email, consider this: the U.S. federal government can read any unopened email you\u2019ve left on an email provider\u2019s server without obtaining a search warrant. The full story is even more disturbing, but there’s something you can do about it. Read on…<\/p>\n

Privacy Protection Stalled In Congress<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even if you\u2019ve opened an email, the feds don\u2019t need a warrant to read it if it\u2019s been stored on a third party\u2019s server for more than six months (180 days). Email you\u2019ve sent is also subject to warrantless searches.<\/p>\n

Is this a new law passed by Congress that allows snooping into your email privacy? Actually, no. It’s been the law of the land for almost 30 years. Lawmakers are trying to change that, but there’s a roadblock. More on that later…<\/p>\n

You can thank the antiquated Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 for this gaping loophole in privacy protection. Written in the age of dialup modems and PCs that supported a maximum of 640 KB of RAM, the ECPA was watered down by law enforcement lobbyists and a Congress that had little clue what it was doing with this new-fangled Intertube thingie. <\/p>\n

Law enforcement argued that unopened messages stored on a third-party server were still \u201cin transit\u201d and not yet the recipient\u2019s property, therefore no warrant was required to search them. Messages left undeleted for more than six months were considered \u201cabandoned property\u201d like trash put out on the curb; the recipient had relinquished ownership so the 4th Amendment did not apply.<\/p>\n

The ECPA applies to all \u201celectronic communications,\u201d not just email. Facebook posts and private messages; text messages; Twitter posts and direct (private, one-to-one) messages; blog posts marked \u201cunpublished;\u201d and just about anything you put online and thought was private.<\/p>\n

Article Continued Here<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your email is subject to warrantless searches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":51457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[316],"class_list":["post-51455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bob-rankin","tag-privacy"],"yoast_head":"\nFeds Can Read Your Email<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Feds Can Read Your Email - Your email is subject to warrantless searches.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Feds Can Read Your Email\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Feds Can Read Your Email - Your email is subject to warrantless searches.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PC Matic Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-28T02:41:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/email_fed.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bob Rankin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bob Rankin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/feds-can-read-your-email\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/feds-can-read-your-email\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bob Rankin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/14737bf7fced6827446b09e297ea0744\"},\"headline\":\"Feds Can Read Your Email\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-28T02:41:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/feds-can-read-your-email\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":332,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/feds-can-read-your-email\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/email_fed.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"privacy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Bob Rankin\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/feds-can-read-your-email\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/feds-can-read-your-email\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/feds-can-read-your-email\\\/\",\"name\":\"Feds Can Read Your Email\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/feds-can-read-your-email\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/feds-can-read-your-email\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/email_fed.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-28T02:41:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"Feds Can Read Your Email - Your email is subject to warrantless searches.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/feds-can-read-your-email\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/feds-can-read-your-email\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/feds-can-read-your-email\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/email_fed.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/email_fed.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":200,\"caption\":\"What Your Email Inbox Says - Keep your mail protected.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/feds-can-read-your-email\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Feds Can Read Your Email\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"PC Matic Blog\",\"description\":\"Tech Tips and Tricks\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png\",\"width\":1535,\"height\":483,\"caption\":\"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/pcmaticusa\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/c\\\/PCMaticVideo\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/14737bf7fced6827446b09e297ea0744\",\"name\":\"Bob Rankin\",\"description\":\"Bob Rankin is a translator for the technology impaired -- a writer and computer programmer who enjoys exploring the Internet and explaining technology in plain English. His work has appeared in Computer World, NY Newsday, and other publications. Bob is also publisher of Internet TOURBUS, author of several computer books, and creator of the Lowfat Linux tutorial.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/askbobrankin.com\\\/tbsignup.html?pcp\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/bobrankin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Feds Can Read Your Email","description":"Feds Can Read Your Email - Your email is subject to warrantless searches.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Feds Can Read Your Email","og_description":"Feds Can Read Your Email - Your email is subject to warrantless searches.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/","og_site_name":"PC Matic Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic","article_published_time":"2015-07-28T02:41:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":200,"height":200,"url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/email_fed.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bob Rankin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@pcmatic","twitter_site":"@pcmatic","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bob Rankin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/"},"author":{"name":"Bob Rankin","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/14737bf7fced6827446b09e297ea0744"},"headline":"Feds Can Read Your Email","datePublished":"2015-07-28T02:41:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/"},"wordCount":332,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/email_fed.jpg","keywords":["privacy"],"articleSection":["Bob Rankin"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/","name":"Feds Can Read Your Email","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/email_fed.jpg","datePublished":"2015-07-28T02:41:50+00:00","description":"Feds Can Read Your Email - Your email is subject to warrantless searches.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/email_fed.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/email_fed.jpg","width":200,"height":200,"caption":"What Your Email Inbox Says - Keep your mail protected."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/feds-can-read-your-email\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Feds Can Read Your Email"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/","name":"PC Matic Blog","description":"Tech Tips and Tricks","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png","width":1535,"height":483,"caption":"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA."},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic","https:\/\/x.com\/pcmatic","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pcmaticusa\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/pcmatic","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/PCMaticVideo"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/14737bf7fced6827446b09e297ea0744","name":"Bob Rankin","description":"Bob Rankin is a translator for the technology impaired -- a writer and computer programmer who enjoys exploring the Internet and explaining technology in plain English. His work has appeared in Computer World, NY Newsday, and other publications. Bob is also publisher of Internet TOURBUS, author of several computer books, and creator of the Lowfat Linux tutorial.","sameAs":["http:\/\/askbobrankin.com\/tbsignup.html?pcp"],"url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/author\/bobrankin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}