Twitter Forced To Hand Over Occupy Protestor's Info

from the privacy? dept

Mon, Jul 2nd 2012 4:17pm — Mike Masnick

We recently wrote about Twitter standing up for a user, Malcolm Harris, who had participated in the Occupy Wall St. protests, and whose info was sought by the government under a 2703(d) order (which has fewer protections than an ordinary warrant). Twitter told Harris about the order, and Harris sought to have it blocked -- but the court claimed he had no standing to do so, as it was just an issue between the government and Twitter. Twitter pushed back, noting that individuals control the content of their own account, so Harris should have standing. Unfortunately, a NYC judge has told Twitter to give up Harris' info, though it did say that the government would need to get a warrant for the last day's worth of info, due to a technicality on timing. The court basically punts on the larger issues, focusing on the fact that most of the information requested, Harris' tweets, are already public, and thus there's little to be concerned about. Of course, if that's the case, it's unclear why the government needs to request info from Twitter in the first place...

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Filed Under: malcolm harris, occupy protests, privacy, standing, warrants
Companies: twitter

19 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2012 @ 4:23pm

Twitparency
Twitter Reports 679 US Government User Information Requests In The First Half Of 2012, Folding On 75% Of Them

Zero Hedge Link
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Torg (profile), 2 Jul 2012 @ 4:26pm

"Of course, if that's the case, it's unclear why the government needs to request info from Twitter in the first place..."

When all you have is a warrant, everything starts to look like a criminal's house.
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- Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2012 @ 6:12pm
  
  Re:
  I believe you hit the nail on the head.
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the cleptoid, 2 Jul 2012 @ 4:28pm

twitter is no different to paypal, barclays, or most of western news media.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2012 @ 4:41pm

DECISION AND ORDER
DECISION AND ORDER by Judge Matthew A. Sciarrino, Jr., June 30, 2012

(H/T Ars Technica)
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- Mike Masnick (profile), 2 Jul 2012 @ 5:43pm
  
  Re: DECISION AND ORDER
  Er, it's also embedded in the post where you can download it...
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  - Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2012 @ 6:10pm
    
    Re: Re: DECISION AND ORDER
    Er, it's also embedded in the post where you can download it...
    
    Not on my platform.
    
    I browse without javascript. And flash isn't even installed at all�have to switch to a different machine to watch C-SPAN.
    
    I suppose I'm in a minority here. But the inconvenience is a whole lot less than the inconvenience of getting pwnd.
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    - AzureSky (profile), 3 Jul 2012 @ 6:41am
      
      Re: Re: Re: DECISION AND ORDER
      if java and flash "pwn" your system....then your doing it wrong.
      
      I have been online since the dos days... I have gotten all of 3 viruses in that time, all my own damn fault(opening risky files)
      
      and during that time, I have browsed/haunted the seedier side of the internet.
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      - weneedhelp (profile), 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:00am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: DECISION AND ORDER
        You surf p0rn with javascript enabled and only got 3 viruses/malware?
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        Anonymous Coward, 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:40am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: DECISION AND ORDER
        You surf p0rn...
        
        In all seriousness, pr0n is not the seediest side of the internet these days.
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abc gum, 2 Jul 2012 @ 6:05pm

Yet another example of American Exceptionalism. America taking exception to the rights of its citizens.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2012 @ 7:42pm

Example
The Feds just needs someone to make an example of.

If you think the feds are watching you, you may not want to tweet as much.Or Comment as much...Shit! I had better shut up!
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2012 @ 9:56pm

Our government is so hypocritical it disgusts me. They make talking points about how China, Iran, Egypt, etc. censors anti-government speech, which is the definition of free speech, while persecuting anyone who points that out.

When government is not for the people, it is against the people.
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- Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2012 @ 9:58pm
  
  Re:
  "while persecuting anyone who points that out to the US government."
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  - Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2012 @ 10:10pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Check this out too:
    
    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/secret-service-fast-and-furious-crushing-anti-holder-protest
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ComputerAddict (profile), 3 Jul 2012 @ 6:08am

"...focusing on the fact that most of the information requested, Harris' tweets, are already public..."

I like that... "Most" ... Most of the information on my driver's license is "public" you can find my name / address in the phone book, you can find my photo / eye color / etc on facebook profile photo which is public... so since 90% of the information is public why should they need a warrant to get Drivers license # and D.O.B. Or if you have an older license from NH they used to put SSN on there (Clarification, I am not from NH, but had friends that had these licenses, you could request that they not put it on there, but had to proactively say so).

But hey "Most" of that information is public so its okay to just hand out.
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- Anonymous Coward, 3 Jul 2012 @ 8:12am
  
  Re:
  Reading comprehension failure? THE COURT said... then your quote...
  
  This was the basis for denying Twitter's objection. Because 90% of the information is already public, then the rest should just be handed over.
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weneedhelp (profile), 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:01am

it's unclear why the government needs to request info from Twitter in the first place...
Intimidation.
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r�f�rencement google, 31 Oct 2012 @ 7:53am

Merci pour le partage, c'est tr�s bon � savoir. Je dois dire que je ne regrette en rien de m'�tre abonn� � votre weblog. Continuez�!

expert seo http://googlepandacestquoi.wordpress.com r�f�rencement internet
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