EFF Sues Justice Department to Shed Light On FBI’s Use of Best Buy Informants

["DAVID FARBER" <dfarber () me com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: EFF Press <press () eff org>
> Date: May 31, 2017 at 6:55:09 PM EDT
> To: dfarber () me com
> Subject: EFF Sues Justice Department to Shed Light On FBI’s Use of Best Buy Informants
> Reply-To: EFF Press <press () eff org>
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> This is a friendly message from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. View it in a web browser.
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> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 2017
> Contact:
> David Greene
> Civil Liberties Director
> davidg () eff org
> +1 415-436-9333 x143
>
> David Sobel
> Senior Counsel
> sobel () eff org
> +1 415-436-9333 x202
>
> EFF Sues Justice Department to Shed Light On FBI’s Use of Best Buy Informants
>  
>
> WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against 
> the Justice Department to obtain records about the FBI’s training and use of Best Buy Geek Squad employees to conduct 
> warrantless searches of customers’ computers.
>
> The records request aims to shed light on how the FBI co-opts Best Buy repair technicians in criminal investigations, 
> and whether the computer searches they conducted were in effect government searches. The U.S. Constitution generally 
> requires federal agents, or those acting on their behalf, to first obtain a warrant before searching someone’s 
> computer. If the Best Buy informants were acting as government agents, the warrantless computer searches they 
> conducted would be illegal.
>
> Court records in a child pornography case against a California man who sent his computer to Best Buy for repair 
> showed a long, close relationship between company technicians and the FBI, according to media reports. Informants at 
> Best Buy’s “Geek Squad City” repair facility in Kentucky received $500 and $1,000 payments from the FBI, and agency 
> documents said the Best Buy informants were “under the control and direction of the FBI,” media stories revealed. FBI 
> agents were seeking training of the Geek Squad technicians to help them identify what type of files and images should 
> be reported to the FBI. 
>
> “Informants who are trained, directed, and paid by the FBI to conduct searches for the agency are acting as 
> government agents,” said David Greene, EFF Civil Liberties Director. “The FBI cannot bypass the Constitution’s 
> warrant requirement by having its informants search people’s computers at its direction and command.”
>
> EFF sent a FOIA request to the FBI in February seeking agency records about the use of informants, training of Best 
> Buy personnel in the detection and location of child pornography on computers, and policy statements about using 
> informants at computer repair facilities. The FBI denied the request, saying it doesn’t confirm or deny that it has 
> records that would reveal whether a person or organization is under investigation.
>
> “The public has a right to know how the FBI uses computer repair technicians to carry out searches the agents 
> themselves cannot do without a warrant,” said David Sobel, EFF Senior Counsel. “People authorize Best Buy employees 
> to fix their computers, not conduct unconstitutional searches on the FBI’s behalf.”
>
> For EFF's complaint:
> https://www.eff.org/document/eff-v-doj-best-buy-foia
>
> For this release:
> https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-sues-justice-department-shed-light-fbis-use-best-buy-informants
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> About EFF
>
> The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading organization protecting civil liberties in the digital world. 
> Founded in 1990, we defend free speech online, fight illegal surveillance, promote the rights of digital innovators, 
> and work to ensure that the rights and freedoms we enjoy are enhanced, rather than eroded, as our use of technology 
> grows. EFF is a member-supported organization. Find out more at https://eff.org.
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> Electronic Frontier Foundation, 815 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA 94109 USA.
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