Detailed Overview of Chimaera I and Chimaera II
Chimaera I - Chimaera Unleashed:
The Specter of Warrantless Governmental Intrusion Is a Phantom that Has Achieved Greater Life in the Ether of Internet Communications
by Vania Mia Chaker, Esq.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction: The Potential Erosion of Fourth
Amendment Protections in the Face of Advancing
Technology............................................................................... 9
A. The Threat of the Chimaera............................................. 12
B. The Additional Threat of the Lycian Twin........................ 17
II. Legal Background of the Fourth Amendment:
Warrantless Government Acquisition of
Computer Data and the Monitoring of
Electronic Transmissions Through the
Use of Sophisticated Technology........................................... 24
A. Precursory Case Law....................................................... 26
1. A Property Rights Analysis: Olmstead v. United States..... 26
2. A Personal Privacy Rights Analysis Katz v. United States ..... 27
3. A “Technology Analysis”--Katz Affirmed Kyllo v. United States..... 30
4. A “Safe Harbor” under Katz: Illinois v. Caballes...... 33
5. A Further Erosion of Katz: United States v. Miller and Smith v. Maryland 38
B. Doctrinal Tension Between Olmstead and Katz............... 39
C. Fourth Amendment Analysis: Riley v. California.............. 43
D. Fourth Amendment Analysis: Carpenter v. United States.. 46
1. Digital Technology and the Qualitatively
Different Nature of Present-Day Cellular Devices..... 49
2. The Reasonable Expectation of Privacy Doctrine Under Katz and
The Recently Evolving Fourth Amendment Landscape 51
3. The Third Party Doctrine........................................... 53
4. The Highly Intrusive Nature of Digital
Technology May Potentially Lead to a Further
Narrowing of the Third Party Doctrine...................... 56
5. Is the Government’s Vast Array of
Aggressive—and Highly Intrusive—Covert Surveillance Practices Constitutional? ....... 58
6. The Court’s Calculus of Privacy in a Society Marked by Increasing Government Surveillance ..... 60
III. Legal and Policy Analysis........ 61
A. Legal and Policy Analysis of Information Acquired
by the Government Without a Warrant......... 61
B. The Specter of Technological Intrusion Casts a Shadow on Individual Privacy and
Perhaps Our Very Expectation of Privacy........ 63
C. “Arcs of Instability” --
The United States’ “Wholesale Digital Surveillance” and
the Weakening of the Cybersecurity Infrastructure
Has Led to Compromise Safety and Security Worldwide......... 73
D. Fear of Government Reprisals from
an Almost Unlimited Government Arsenal....... 77
E. The Government’s Veil of Secrecy—Surreptitious
Practices, Spying Technology, and the “Secret FISA Court”... 80
1. The Government’s “Secret Surveillance Room”........ 81
2. The “Secret FISA Court” and Its Phantom Protections..... 87
F. The Government’s Chilling Effect on Scholarship and the Fourth Estate..... 91
G. Additional Harms upon Society as a Result of Government’s Covert Conduct:
Restraint on the First Amendment and a
Broader Chilling Effect on Freedom of Thought, Speech, and Expression..... 94
IV. Conclusion: The Chimaera’s Demise--
Does the Diminution of Our Privacy and Personal Freedoms Result in the
Weakening, Not Strengthening, of Our Democracy?..... 102
A. Our Constitutional Guarantee to Individual
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness...... 102
B. Do the Ends Justify the Means If the Means Ultimately Destroy
the Values Upon Which the Ends Rely? ....... 105
The Specter of Warrantless Governmental Intrusion Is a Phantom that Has Achieved Greater Life in the Ether of Internet Communications
by Vania Mia Chaker, Esq.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction: The Potential Erosion of Fourth
Amendment Protections in the Face of Advancing
Technology............................................................................... 9
A. The Threat of the Chimaera............................................. 12
B. The Additional Threat of the Lycian Twin........................ 17
II. Legal Background of the Fourth Amendment:
Warrantless Government Acquisition of
Computer Data and the Monitoring of
Electronic Transmissions Through the
Use of Sophisticated Technology........................................... 24
A. Precursory Case Law....................................................... 26
1. A Property Rights Analysis: Olmstead v. United States..... 26
2. A Personal Privacy Rights Analysis Katz v. United States ..... 27
3. A “Technology Analysis”--Katz Affirmed Kyllo v. United States..... 30
4. A “Safe Harbor” under Katz: Illinois v. Caballes...... 33
5. A Further Erosion of Katz: United States v. Miller and Smith v. Maryland 38
B. Doctrinal Tension Between Olmstead and Katz............... 39
C. Fourth Amendment Analysis: Riley v. California.............. 43
D. Fourth Amendment Analysis: Carpenter v. United States.. 46
1. Digital Technology and the Qualitatively
Different Nature of Present-Day Cellular Devices..... 49
2. The Reasonable Expectation of Privacy Doctrine Under Katz and
The Recently Evolving Fourth Amendment Landscape 51
3. The Third Party Doctrine........................................... 53
4. The Highly Intrusive Nature of Digital
Technology May Potentially Lead to a Further
Narrowing of the Third Party Doctrine...................... 56
5. Is the Government’s Vast Array of
Aggressive—and Highly Intrusive—Covert Surveillance Practices Constitutional? ....... 58
6. The Court’s Calculus of Privacy in a Society Marked by Increasing Government Surveillance ..... 60
III. Legal and Policy Analysis........ 61
A. Legal and Policy Analysis of Information Acquired
by the Government Without a Warrant......... 61
B. The Specter of Technological Intrusion Casts a Shadow on Individual Privacy and
Perhaps Our Very Expectation of Privacy........ 63
C. “Arcs of Instability” --
The United States’ “Wholesale Digital Surveillance” and
the Weakening of the Cybersecurity Infrastructure
Has Led to Compromise Safety and Security Worldwide......... 73
D. Fear of Government Reprisals from
an Almost Unlimited Government Arsenal....... 77
E. The Government’s Veil of Secrecy—Surreptitious
Practices, Spying Technology, and the “Secret FISA Court”... 80
1. The Government’s “Secret Surveillance Room”........ 81
2. The “Secret FISA Court” and Its Phantom Protections..... 87
F. The Government’s Chilling Effect on Scholarship and the Fourth Estate..... 91
G. Additional Harms upon Society as a Result of Government’s Covert Conduct:
Restraint on the First Amendment and a
Broader Chilling Effect on Freedom of Thought, Speech, and Expression..... 94
IV. Conclusion: The Chimaera’s Demise--
Does the Diminution of Our Privacy and Personal Freedoms Result in the
Weakening, Not Strengthening, of Our Democracy?..... 102
A. Our Constitutional Guarantee to Individual
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness...... 102
B. Do the Ends Justify the Means If the Means Ultimately Destroy
the Values Upon Which the Ends Rely? ....... 105
Chimaera II - Your Spying Smart Phone:
Individual Privacy Is Narrowly Strengthened in Carpenter v. United States, The U.S. Supreme Court’s Most Recent Fourth Amendment Ruling
by Vania Mia Chaker, Esq.
Table of Contents
Abstract ................................................................................................. 3
Author’s Vitae ......................................................................................... 4
Acknowledgements ................................................................................ 5
Table of Contents .................................................................................... 7
Introduction ............................................................................................. 9
Analysis ................................................................................................... 11
I. Digital Technology and the Qualitatively Different Nature of Present-Day Cellular Devices 11
II. The Reasonable Expectation of Privacy Doctrine Under Katz
and the Recently Evolving Fourth Amendment Landscape ........................ 12
III. The Third-Party Doctrine..................................................................... 15
IV. The Highly Intrusive Nature of Digital Technology
May Potentially Lead to a Further Narrowing of the Third-Party Doctrine ... 18
V. Is the Government’s Vast Array of Aggressive
— and Highly Intrusive -- Covert Surveillance Practices Constitutional? ...... 20
Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 23
VI. The Court’s Calculus of Privacy in a Society Marked
by Increasing Government Surveillance.......................................................... 23
Individual Privacy Is Narrowly Strengthened in Carpenter v. United States, The U.S. Supreme Court’s Most Recent Fourth Amendment Ruling
by Vania Mia Chaker, Esq.
Table of Contents
Abstract ................................................................................................. 3
Author’s Vitae ......................................................................................... 4
Acknowledgements ................................................................................ 5
Table of Contents .................................................................................... 7
Introduction ............................................................................................. 9
Analysis ................................................................................................... 11
I. Digital Technology and the Qualitatively Different Nature of Present-Day Cellular Devices 11
II. The Reasonable Expectation of Privacy Doctrine Under Katz
and the Recently Evolving Fourth Amendment Landscape ........................ 12
III. The Third-Party Doctrine..................................................................... 15
IV. The Highly Intrusive Nature of Digital Technology
May Potentially Lead to a Further Narrowing of the Third-Party Doctrine ... 18
V. Is the Government’s Vast Array of Aggressive
— and Highly Intrusive -- Covert Surveillance Practices Constitutional? ...... 20
Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 23
VI. The Court’s Calculus of Privacy in a Society Marked
by Increasing Government Surveillance.......................................................... 23
