Re: Legality of Packet Sniffing

On 10/23/07, Caleb Phillips <[email protected]> wrote:
> I thought some people here might be interested in this, since it has
> come up in discussions (both on-list and over-beers) in the past. The
> following paper is going to appear at IMC'07 in a couple of days. It
> details the legal issues associated with doing measurement-driven
> research on networks (i.e. sniffing and then studying). Although the
> paper is targeted at the specific questions of the CS research
> community, I think the legal discussion can be mapped to "hobbyist
> sniffers" (i.e. war-drivers et al.) too:

there's a big difference with respect to wireless networks that is not
explicitly detailed in this paper, but is of paramount importance:

it is perfectly legal to sniff unencrypted wireless networks.  the
legal ambiguities come into play concerning disclosure of that data in
whole or in part.

0. Electronic Communications Privacy Act 18 U.S.C. § 2511
"(g) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter or chapter
 121 of this title for any person—
 _(i) to intercept or access an electronic communication
  made through an electronic communication system that is
  configured so that such electronic communication is
  readily accessible to the general public;
 _(ii) to intercept any radio communication which is
  transmitted— ...
 __(III) by a station operating on an authorized frequency
  within the bands allocated to the amateur, citizens band,
  or general mobile radio services;
 _(v) for other users of the same frequency to intercept any
  radio communication made through a system that utilizes
  frequencies monitored by individuals engaged in the
  provision or the use of such system, if such communication
  is not scrambled or encrypted.
"

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00002511----000-.html
18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(g)(v) (2004)
18 U.S.C. § 2511(1)(a).

anyone who suggests there is a legal basis for "expectation of
privacy" on public wireless network is not only incorrect, but
actively perpetuating harmful misinformation that is detrimental to
the privacy of users on these networks.

best regards,

-- 
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