A recent article by the Electronic Frontier Foundation indicates that Gov. Sarah Palin’s e-mail hacker may be difficult to prosecute due to current disagreements on the interpretation of the term “electronic storage”. The Stored Communications Act (SCA) indicates that protection includes all e-mail stored on electronic devices or in electronic communications, however the Department of Justice (DOJ) has disagreed, indicating a far more lenient interpretation of what email is protected.

According to the Stored Communications Act (SCA) electronic storage, which is protected under privacy laws, is defined as “any temporary, intermediate storage of a wire or electronic communication incidental to the electronic transmission thereof.” In otherwords, both opened and unopened e-mails residing on electronic storage devices or electronic communication devices would be protected.

The DOJ, however, disagrees with this definition of electronic storage, thus muddling the privacy question. According to this report, the DOJ has argued:

If the recipient chooses to retain a copy of the communication on the service provider’s system, the retained Read the rest of this entry »