Fourth Amendment Violations in the Digital World Under Rule 41(e)(2)

To keep the promise of the Fourth Amendment alive in the modern world, the digital records kept on our phones and computers, and backed up to cloud storage, should be protected at least as zealously as a diary kept locked in our home. Unfortunately, the current Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure make it far too easy for the government to ignore the rights enshrined in the Fourth Amendment. In particular, lax oversight of the use of Rule 41(e)(2)(B), which addresses warrants seeking electronically stored information, has allowed the government to in effect obtain general warrants that allow it to rummage through our digital lives with few if any restrictions.