The FBI doesn’t need a warrant to collect private IP addresses and other computer-related data during probes and dragnets, a federal court has ruled. The judge said the FBI’s actions were within constitutional bounds, rejecting privacy concerns. A court in Virginia declined to side with child pornography suspect Edward Matish, who accused the government of “unconstitutional” access to his private computer in February 2015.
Matish was one of 137 people charged in the probe of Playpen, a website that contained “tens of thousands” of child pornography postings of both videos and pictures. Having officially obtained a warrant, in December 2014 the FBI installed a malware on Playpen’s server to obtain identifying information from everyone logging into the website. Such tactic is officially known as “network investigative technique” or NIT. FULL REPORT
