Google worried US could use amended warrant rule to search computers abroad

Google has opposed moves by the U.S. Department of Justice to extend the warrant issuing authority of magistrate judges to searches of computers in districts other than their own.

Innocuous as that may sound, Google is concerned that the proposed amendment would likely end up being used by U.S. law enforcement to directly search computers and devices anywhere in the world.

There is nothing in the proposed change to the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41 that would prevent access to computers and devices worldwide, wrote Richard Salgado, Google’s legal director for law enforcement and information security, in a blog post Wednesday.

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