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Re:Facial Recognition’s Threat to Privacy Is Worse Than Anyo... by AnimalMuppet on Thursday October 20, 2016 @05:04PM (#12756146)
First, "that's simply not true" is a counter claim. So now you need evidence.

Second, yes, law enforcement needs a warrant to legally compel a company to provide them with information. But what if the company (or an individual within it) is willing to provide data without being served with a warrant? Unless taking the information is in violation of privacy laws, what's to keep a police officer from using that? (Call it an "informant" if you wish to equate it with similar non-electronic situations.)

Re:Facial Recognition’s Threat to Privacy Is Worse Than Anyo... by dimino on Thursday October 20, 2016 @05:04PM (#12756157)
I withdraw the counterclaim, then. I simply dispute the original claim.

As for a company providing information without a warrant, recent case law is closing/has closed the door on a company's ability to do such a thing (not that they are, considering how many companies have stringent privacy agreements with their users).

Re:Facial Recognition’s Threat to Privacy Is Worse Than Anyo... by AnimalMuppet on Thursday October 20, 2016 @05:24PM (#12756312)
Let's separate this into a few different things.

1. If a company (or an individual) provide information to law enforcement on request, without a warrant, is that disclosure itself breaking the law? (Ignoring company policy and privacy statements here.)

2. If so, will the company be prosecuted for doing so?

3. Will the information be usable in court?

When you say "recent case law is closing the door on a company's ability to do such a thing", it sounds like you're talking about #3 (but feel free to clarify if I'm wrong). But #1 is still a concern, because it can show the police where to try to do parallel construction.

Re:Facial Recognition’s Threat to Privacy Is Worse Than Anyo... by dimino on Thursday October 20, 2016 @06:08PM (#12756619)
I first want to finish dealing with the original claim and the focus of my actual comment.