US government backs down on Yahoo privacy

THE US GOVERNMENT has backed down on its plans to force Yahoo to hand over the contents of its users' email accounts, to a mixed response from a pro-privacy coalition.

The Feds had been demanding access to Yahoo's user email archives, which the firm argued is counter to the US Stored Communications Act that says such infomation should only be subject to access after a search warrant has been issued by a court of law.

A coalition of groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Center for Democracy in Technology and Google, came out in support of Yahoo, and now they have a success to report, albeit a slight one.

Kevin Bankston from the EFF accepted that in the face of 'stiff resistance" the US government backed down on its demands, but added that an opportunity to clarify laws in this area had been missed. He explained that the issue went deeper than just the Yahoo email situation, and bemoaned the fact that the court's ruling did not go farther.

He said that the coalition wanted a "clear ruling on the legality and constitutionality of the government's overreaching demand", explaining that such demands are an increasingly routine part of law enforcement. Meaning that the fuzz can go around kicking down virtual doors unless challenged in this way.

Bankston added, "The right answer here is to let the courts decide, not to have the government turn tail and run whenever someone seeks real judicial review of their positions."

"Today's capitulation by the government is a profound disappointment to those of us seeking to clarify and strengthen the legal protections for your private data. Court rulings are needed to keep the government within its legal bounds when it comes to warrantless communications and location surveillance." µ