Judge Rules Feds Can Have WikiLeaks Associates’ Twitter Data

[Newsjock]

Source: Wired

The Justice Department is entitled to records of the Twitter accounts used by three current and former WikiLeaks associates, a federal judge ruled Thursday, dealing a victory to prosecutors in a routine records demand that turned into a fierce court battle over online privacy and free speech.

In a 60-page opinion (.pdf), U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady in Alexandria, Virginia upheld a magistrate’s decision earlier this year allowing prosecutors to obtain information on the accounts, including records showing when they sent direct messages to one another, and from what internet IP addresses. The ruling does not expose the content of the messages, nor information on other Twitter users who follow the accounts.

... The Justice Department has been seeking the Twitter records under 18 USC 2703(d), a 1994 amendment to the Stored Communications Act that allows law enforcement access to non-content internet records, such as transaction information, without demonstrating the “probable cause” needed for a full-blown search warrant. A 2703(d) order is issued when prosecutors provide a judge with “specific and articulable facts” that show the information they seek is relevant and material to a criminal investigation. The people targeted in the records demand don’t themselves have to be suspected of criminal wrongdoing.

The targets of the records demand are WikiLeaks’ official Twitter account, and the accounts of three people connected to the group: Seattle coder and activist Jacob Appelbaum; Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of Iceland’s parliament; and Dutch businessman Rop Gonggrijp. Jonsdottir and Gonggrijp helped WikiLeaks prepare the release of a classified U.S. Army video published last year as “Collateral Murder,” and Appelbaum is the group’s U.S. representative.

Read more: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/11/wikileaks-twitter-ruling/

[BlueIris]

1. Beautiful. And by beautiful I mean ugly. nt

[mike_c]

2. always assume that you're under surveillance...

...because often you are, and even when you're not, records amounting to surveillance can be obtained later. Welcome to the pan opticon.

[dipsydoodle]

3. US court verdict 'huge blow' to privacy, says fomer WikiLeaks aide

Icelandic MP and former WikiLeaks volunteer Birgitta Jonsdottir has slammed the decision by US courts to open her Twitter account to the US authorities and is taking her case to the Council of Europe.

>

"This is a huge blow for everybody that uses social media," said Jonsdottir. "We have to have the same civil rights online as we have offline. Imagine if the US authorities wanted to do a house search at my home, go through my private papers. There would be a hell of a fight. It's absolutely unacceptable."

She said she would press for the Council of Europe to act on the case, which she believes sets a worrying precedent for private citizens and politicians across the world.

Last month the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which represents MPs from 157 countries, unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the move by the Justice Department. The IPU said the move threatened free speech and suggested it could violate Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which upholds the right of everyone to freedom of opinion and expression.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/11/us-verdict-privacy-wikileaks-twitter

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. The Justice Dept has jurisdiction over 2 non-citizens?

"Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of Iceland’s parliament; and Dutch businessman Rop Gonggrijp."

And yet, the Just Us Dept claims they cannot pursue AMERICAN banks who hide money outside of US.