DOJ Demands Identity of 1.3 Million Visitors to Anti-Trump Website
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 08/15/2017 12:20 PM [ Comments ]
DreamHost, a web-hosting provider, has revealed that the US Department of Justice is demanding the IP address of 1.3 million users who visited an anti-Trump website.
The site in question is disruptj20.org
DreamHost is challenging the warrant and has made this statement:
The request from the DOJ demands that DreamHost hand over 1.3 million visitor IP addresses — in addition to contact information, email content, and photos of thousands of people — in an effort to determine who simply visited the website.
That information could be used to identify any individuals who used this site to exercise and express political speech protected under the Constitution’s First Amendment. That should be enough to set alarm bells off in anyone’s mind.
This is, in our opinion, a strong example of investigatory overreach and a clear abuse of government authority.
Law enforcement regularly approaches technology companies in order to pursue criminal investigations. But DreamHost feels that demanding the identity of 1.3 million users is a serious overreach.
Source: Graham Cluley
DreamHost is challenging the warrant and has made this statement:
The request from the DOJ demands that DreamHost hand over 1.3 million visitor IP addresses — in addition to contact information, email content, and photos of thousands of people — in an effort to determine who simply visited the website.
That information could be used to identify any individuals who used this site to exercise and express political speech protected under the Constitution’s First Amendment. That should be enough to set alarm bells off in anyone’s mind.
This is, in our opinion, a strong example of investigatory overreach and a clear abuse of government authority.
Law enforcement regularly approaches technology companies in order to pursue criminal investigations. But DreamHost feels that demanding the identity of 1.3 million users is a serious overreach.
Source: Graham Cluley
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