Private Person Searches

The Private Search Doctrine

Google’s Computerized hashing technology

Child Pornography and the Internet

So long as a warrantless search conducted by a government entity is preceded by a private person search, the government search does not implicate the Fourth Amendment as long as it does not exceed the scope of the initial private search.  Google, using its proprietary hashing procedures to identify child pornography sent by its subscribers, is a private person search. 

Defendant Luke Noel Wilson, a San Diego resident, liked to use a scam where he would lure young women with acting and modeling aspirations into photoshoots, finding his prospective candidates on a website where the women advertised their availability.  Once he got their attention, his plan was to begin the photo sessions with his targets being fully clothed, leading to being partially nude, to totally nude, to “sexually explicit,” to overt pornography, sometimes with himself participating.  The transition was eased through the use of alcohol and monetary payments.  One such connection was an 18-year-old woman who soon introduced defendant to her younger sister; 15-year-old J.A.  Defendant gradually led J.A. through the above progression, a relationship that lasted for several years until she was a young adult, and even after she became pregnant via a boyfriend when she was 17.  Not yet satisfied, or perhaps just broadening his repertoire of pornographic photographs, defendant eventually coxed J.A. into ....