New
Scientist: The answer to that question could have legal
implications. Currently, US police need a warrant to search a
suspect’s personal home computer, which is protected by
the Fourth Amendment. A recent ruling in January allowed police
to search a suspect’s cell phone without a
warrant—a decision that angered many because cell phones
are now so advanced that access to the phone allows almost the
same level of insight into one’s life as seizure of a
home computer. If a cell phone, and all it contains, is now
officially a computer, can this be used as a defense to prevent
the authorities seizing it when they carry out a search? No one
really knows until it is tested in court, writes Niall Firth
for
New Scientist, but it is an interesting development
and shows how advances in technology can muddle even the
clearest of legal matters.
