Judge rules that peer-to-peer file sharing data isn’t private

[silicon_toad2000]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/13/5098918/p2p-file-sharing-private-judge-ruling

A federal judge in Vermont has ruled that there should be no expectation of privacy for data shared across peer-to-peer file sharing services. In a case centered around the detection of child pornography, three defendants argued that information gained from a P2P network was illegally obtained by police without a search warrant. Police officers had used a number of software tools, known collectively as Child Protection System, to create automated searches for files known to contain images of child pornography. The system automatically matches files with an IP address, hash value, date and time, and other details of the computer involved.

While the defendants sought to suppress the evidence, District Court Judge Christina Reiss denied the motion and ruled that the defendants had given up privacy by making the files available through the P2P network. "The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that the only information accessed was made publicly available by the IP address or the software it was using," Reiss says. "Accordingly, either intentionally or inadvertently, through the use of peer-to-peer file sharing software, Defendants exposed to the public the information they now claim was private." While the software police used was automated, Reiss notes that the searches could have been executed manually by law enforcement officers or members of the public.

[GhostShip]

The judge has erred in his judgement in making this ruling, the data thats accessible across a p2p network is not files in actuallity its meta-data and that may or may not mean that there is a file relating to the received meta-data, but I do believe that such a meta data result should in itself give grounds for a warrant as in real life its unlikely that folks would share meta-data for child porn unless they either have it or are acting as a honeypot for those that seek it.

There is of course a further issue that crops up here and one that can have a serious impact on innocent folks, its possible as we all know on this and most other p2p networks to spoof such met-data results, knowing this makes the judgement seem even less well thought out.

I wish judges would do their homework or ask for professional assistance before making such judgements.