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This ruling is a huge step in the right direction. To gather all the data you speak of requires some entity (entities, really) -currently not the government- to gather it and then make it available for subpoenas and warrants, which would then fall [in the 5th circuit anyways, right now] under this precedent.

The government could get into the business of building [under cover] popular apps so as to gather that data themselves, but that would take a great deal of time and money, and most importantly competence!



As the sibling comment points out, the government doesn't need a subpoena if companies hand over the data willingly (typically for a fee.)

I can't see this being fixed until America decides that the rights to our identifying data can't be signed away.


True.

This ruling says you can't subpoena data.

It doesn't say you can't buy it. The free market is an enormous whole in our privacy rights. At the same time, it's crazy that we ourselves put all of our data out there on the free market.


Even I said that in an earlier comment (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41229845).

Still, this is a step forward. The step might be to forbid the government bypassing legal protections by buying the data.


Or just pay a data broker.




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