I don't know if this has been covered before but...

The question is:  If by some unfortunate reason a provider's computer gets confiscated during an unfortunate confrontation with LE........does LE or anyone for that matter have the where-with-all to learn UN-stored passwords?  Long question huh?

A second question:  I believe that armed with a warrant or subpoena, LE can require an ISP (Internet Service Provider) to gain access to things like email, sites surfed on the web.  Is that correct?

Educate me oh wise ones.

Thankss

LE does have computer geeks that can access your computer and get all the information that's in your laptops memory and also find out webs you visited.
And you are right they can through the proper channels get into your e-mails.
Other than LE unless you are or you know a computer hacker the typical person would not be able to get much info out of your computer, all a typical person can do is erase all your info and reboot your computer and either keep it or sell it or just give it to someone.

If you are busted, your laptop, cell phone, etc. are all fair game, and LE has the wherewithal to find out just about anything that is on them, even when you think you have deleted all the information.  (Information never really ever gets deleted and there are ways of finding it even when you've used super heavy duty software to erase it.  Destroying the hard drive is the only  way to do it for sure, and even then there could be some echos still in the various other memories in the device.)

(still not a lawyer or a forensic investigator)

Emails are stored on the ISP's server as well.  Does anyone know how long?  For example, if one deletes emails today, and also empties the trash.....how long would one have to stop worrying about the retrieval of emails by someone "not desired" to view them?  Does anyone know?

as for site passwords, you don't have to be a geek to figure that out, they are stored with easy access once the computer is opened and the unlocking is easy enough for a novice to figure out...however, they have to have probable cause to get into you computer, otherwise they will not be able to use it for evidence. For example if you are using the computer to commit an illegal act and they suspect it, they can get a warrant and access you laptop. However, if you beat your roomie to death by hitting him in the head with you laptop, they could impound it as a weapon but might be prohibited from accessing it unless they had probable cause.

It is safe to assume that all information posted on the internet, including emails, forum posts etc. will have an infinite lifetime.

Any admin worth his/her salt will have tape backups, saved in various off site locations for disaster recovery.

I surf the internet using FireFox in Private Browsing mode, I also never save passwords or usernames for my hotmail accounts (which I use for things like . . .well. . .TER) AND I have several hotmail accts that are benign. . .just in case.

-- Modified on 4/21/2010 8:20:42 PM

Assume anything you ever write online can be retrieved by someone with the the correct technology and/or a warrant.  There are fine legal points there though.  Just because it was written on your computer or through your ISP name, does that prove you wrote it and is it admissable in court?  Probably need an appeals court to get the answer to that one.  

The question becomes how much effort will LE spend?  In the case of misdemeanor soliciting arrests?  Not that much MOST of the time.  

If you assume any email you write can be retrieved and read by LE and never say anything damming in them, relax.  

On the other hand, if you are running a high-end callgirl operation with politicians, clebreties, etc as clients, you bet LE would pull out all the stops to make the headlines even if they can't make a case.  Remember Spitzer was never even charged with anything I don't think!

MVR

Best to just change email addresses and computers often
Via selling them for cash and not to a pawn shop

Very true.  Nearly everything is recoverable.  I once attended a workshop back in 1994 or so, and even then, DoD could recover contents after 4 or 5 wipes.  That was 1994.  However, it is an expensive process, and I will guess that it may only be considered worthwhile if they suspect far more criminal intent than adult-consenting hobbying.  (e.g. kids, human trade, and other evil things)

I'll add that I also paid $35 for a year of access to a foreign secure proxy who does not keep any logs at all.  So now I can access any site I want with an https connection (the content AND url are unreadable even by the ISP) and sleep much easier.  Oh, and I still use Private Browsing as wallyd does.  Combine that with hotmail or whatever, and you're pretty difficult to find.

Finally, I'd consider the labor costs vs the people's perceived value of incarceration ... the harder you work to clean up your tracks, it's likely to make it more expensive to uncover the tracks.  Might not be worth it to some of our country's finest.

-- Modified on 4/22/2010 7:29:35 PM

can they ?
technically, definitely
legally, probably

will they ?
no way to know for sure.

there's only one way to be absolutely sure they wont find anything incriminating in your computer or email accounts.

dont write anything incriminating.

the law is flexible and can be bent in so many different ways, breaking it is really unnecessary.

i've heard somewhere before that a good attorney doesnt tell you that what you want to do is illegal, he tells you how to do what you want legally.

or something like that.