Slashdot: DC Judge Approves Government Warrant For Data From Anti-Trump Website

DC Judge Approves Government Warrant For Data From Anti-Trump Website
Published on August 24, 2017 at 03:20PM
According to Reuters, a D.C. Superior Court judge on Thursday approved a government warrant seeking data from an anti-Trump website related to Inauguration Day protests, but he added protections to safeguard “innocent users.” From the report: Chief Judge Robert Morin said DreamHost, a Los Angeles-based web-hosting company, must turn over data about visitors to the website disruptj20.org, which is a home to political activists who organized protests at the time of Donald Trump’s inauguration as U.S. president in January. Morin, who will oversee review of the data, said the government must explain what protocols it will use to make sure prosecutors do not seize the data of “innocent users.” Morin said at a hearing on Thursday that he recognized the tension between free speech rights and law enforcement’s need to search digital records for evidence. He said he added safeguards to his order granting the government’s request for information in an effort to balance those two concerns. Besides reviewing the prosecutors’ privacy protocols, Morin also shortened the time frame for records to those generated from October to Inauguration Day and instructed the prosecutors to explain why anything they want to seize is germane to the investigation.