An interesting follow up to my previous post on expectations of privacy in the names of files. The court case I discussed involved someone who brought their computer (complete with child porn) to Best Buy. He was turned in to the police by the Geek Squad.
An article today in the Atlanta Journal Constitution notes the risk people take in turning over computers to technicians. But it also notes that no law requires technicians to reports suspected illegal content to the police. Also, most company policies would prohibit opening the files to determine whether the suspected files actually does contain illegal content.
I see two response to this issue likely.
First, we may soon start to see more computer technicians provide stronger guarantees of privacy. (I am not saying this is right, it is just how the market will work).
Second, before long we may see legislatures try to create mandatory disclosure laws.
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