FBI Targeted Spam Suspects' Google Docs

Back on August 21st, federal investigators in New York issued a search warrant against Levi Beers and Chris di Diego, both of whom were accused of masterminding a spam operation called Pulse Marketing. Instead of just seizing the suspects' e-mails, though, police went one step further and snatched all files saved on their respective Google Docs, as well. Ten days after FBI officials issued the warrant, Google provided them with spreadsheets listing over 3 million targeted e-mail addresses, as well as 8,000 falsified accounts that Beers and di Diego used to run their operation.

It may not seem like a big deal at first glance, but, as Wired asserts, the case actually represents something of a mini-milestone in criminal procedure. Under the 1986 Stored Communications Act, government investigators can seize stored data as long as they make a case that there are "reasonable grounds" to do so. Government watchdogs have long pointed out that the "reasonable grounds" standard is substantially lower than the "probable cause" that police must prove before issuing a search warrant. In this case, though, the FBI sought a traditional, by-the-book warrant to access the Google Docs.

Correction: The original headline erroneously suggested that the spam suspects had been arrested by the FBI. Neither Levi Beers or Chris di Diego were arrested. We regret the error.

The fact that both suspects stored their data on Google also made the investigation easier from a logistical point of view. If they'd kept their files on hard drives, for instance, the FBI would've been forced to serve the warrants in person, and to give Beers and di Diego a copy of the warrant as well as an inventory of everything the Bureau had taken. As it turns out, the FBI discretely presented the warrant to Google, without informing either suspect. In the eight months that followed, Google never notified Beers or di Diego -- contrary to its company policy. Google spokesman Brian Richardson explained: "If it doesn't jeopardize the investigation... and is allowed under the law, we work to notify the user before turning over any information requested."

We're left to assume, therefore, that the circumstances governing this particular case precluded Google from notifying the clients in question. But, if police issue traditional search warrants to seize non-traditional data, you would think that the same procedural protocol would apply, thus obliging the FBI to notify the men. It's always good to know that federal agents are sticking to the Constitution, but it seems that there are still some inconsistencies that need to be hammered out. [From: Wired]

Correction:

Tags: criminal, cybercrime, fbi, google, GoogleDocs, law, police, privacy, security, spam, spammers, top, warrant