A Balancing Act: Fourth Amendment Protections and the Reasonable Scope of Government Investigatory Access to E-Mail Accounts

Authors

Joseph P. Gryzlo

Document Type

Note

Abstract

(Excerpt)

Part I of this Note examines the Fourth Amendment particularity requirement, explains how it relates to the breadth of probable cause, and surveys how these concepts have been applied in the electronic context. Part II assesses the issue of the breadth of probable cause regarding e-mail accounts in particular and reviews the different approaches the district courts have taken in addressing this issue, as well as other proposed solutions that may be implemented in accordance with these approaches. Lastly, Part III proposes a resolution to the controversy, balancing the competing interests of privacy and the government’s investigatory needs, and argues for a tempered version of permitting the government access to an entire e-mail account when probable cause only exists for a portion of the account.