There have been a number of Law and Order episodes which have featured lawyers for either the prosecution or the defense going to computer security experts and retrieving e-mails (in order to prove the guilt or innocence of a particular party). These e-mails were not retrieved off of personal computers (sending and/or receiving the e-mails) but rather they were recovered within the public domain, as it were.
It seems from these episodes that once an e-mail is sent in the public domain (without it being encrypted) it can be retrieved/uncovered and read by such experts. Is this true? When an e-mail is sent in the public domain, is it truly something that has become "public"?
Thanks!
2007-03-30 09:41:39 · 4 answers · asked by themightycashew 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Security
Seems a lot of "poetic licence" to me.
Yes, if the mail has been sent and is still on a server somewhere, then it could easily be viewed.
Yes, it is like a "postcard" while in transit, and the UK's Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 allows for a "black box" unit to be installed at an ISP's datacentre to copy all traffic the security services determine is "interesting".
In theory this could mean that all e-mail to/from a specific user could be copied away to some government agency for archiving. One ISP I use had contingency plans to move their mail servers offshore if ever they were required to fit some "black box", and the managing director (previously their most senior systems man) said that users could ask about whether anything had been fitted, and while they were getting the answer "no, nothing so far" that would be exactly what it meant, once something was fitted, the ISP would not be able to answer (not allowed!) so that would be a clue!
Anyway, biggest problem I see is that a single person can have dozens of different mail addresses. I have at least 30 different domains / websites (*) / mail accounts. Some have mail stored in the UK, some in USA, some outside those countries. Which mail address I use determines all sorts of things... some of the mail accounts check others for new mail (and delete it from the original server). Some mail addresses will trigger a message to my mobile phone...
I am hardly a genius, and know that *if they wanted to* they could probably run rings around me to find all the messages, but it could be far more complicated
If I was involved in crime or terrorism, I'd likely use encryption and lots of extra options to break down the easy tracking of messages.
Heck, it can be a puzzle for me to work out why a message didn't end up in a mailbox where I expected it, so it could give "them" a merry dance to track down what happened to a message :)
(*) I have at least a half dozen web "reseller" accounts, each can hold dozens of domains (some mine, most belong to clients)
2007-04-01 05:14:17 · answer #1 · answered by Peter M 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, yes and no, it depends alot on the ISP's involved what policies they have in place and the requirements etc. etc.
Second, you need to fully understand, email is a postcard! Anything you put in email is easily read while in transit period! (If you ever run a trace route to see how you get from your computer to a website you will find there are several connections used to get you there - anyone of them is a point at which email can be read!) ITS A POSTCARD!
2007-03-30 10:07:54 · answer #2 · answered by Tracy L 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Public Domain Email
2017-02-24 06:10:19 · answer #3 · answered by pollmann 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think they can be recovered from the Server,
where E-mail is kept until called for. I think it is Archived.
2007-03-30 09:51:50 · answer #4 · answered by Answers 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋