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Privacy in the Digital Age

8.6.21 | by Lance Fogarty

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Key Takeaways

• Privacy Concerns in Digital Forensic Investigations: Method Forensics regularly encounters significant privacy concerns, such as HIPAA, PII, GDPR, and CCPA regulations, during their investigations. They include confidentiality clauses in their service agreements to protect privacy, yet they are mandated to report illegal activities, reflecting the balance between privacy and legal obligations.
• Ethical Dilemmas of Data Scanning by Cloud Providers: The practice of cloud providers scanning files for content violations raises ethical questions about privacy infringement. While companies like Apple are beginning to scan for illicit content, the broader implications of such surveillance by Big Tech highlight concerns about transparency, security, and who should decide when it is appropriate to access and scrutinize personal data.

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Method Forensics runs into privacy concerns on a daily basis while performing digital forensic investigations within the litigation industry. These concerns include HIPPA, PII, GDRP, CCPA, and other various State privacy laws. Confidentiality clauses are always included in our service agreement in order to continually protect the privacy of others. With that said, whether we work under court orders, Rule 11 Agreement, or simply mutual consent, Method Forensics will report illegal activities.

Outside of any form of litigation, when is it ok for others to interrogate, or otherwise access, your personal data including photos? Many cloud providers, such as Microsoft, Google, Dropbox, and more, scan files for content deemed in violation of their respective terms of service. Apple has long resisted violating anyone’s privacy even refusing to break into a known terrorist’s cell phone. This may no longer be the case.

How many people actually read the terms of service on any hardware, software, or cloud platform? Even when you do it for the right reasons, when is it right to violate one’s privacy? Recent posts about Apple’s new scanning protocol was recently reported by numerous outlets, including the BBC, Apple to scan iPhones for child sex abuse images, and TechCrunch, Apple confirms it will begin scanning iCloud Photos for child abuse images.

This may be just the tip of the iceberg. How transparent is Big Tech and how secure is your information? Who should make these decisions for you?