U.S. v. Soybel

Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress “pen register” evidence linking defendant’s IP address to series of cyberattacks against computer systems belonging to defendant’s former employer. Record showed that govt. sought and received court order under Pen Register Act, 18 USC section 3121 that allowed use of pen registers that eventually captured 790 internet connections between defendant’s IP address and IP address of former employer over three-month period, and that govt.’s application was not based on probable cause, but rather govt. certification that information to be obtained was relevant to ongoing criminal investigation. Moreover, while defendant argued that use of pen register to identify IP addresses was “search” that required search warrant, Ct. of Appeals found that use of pen register is not search for purposes of Fourth Amendment, where defendant had no expectation of privacy in captured routing information, where connection between defendant’s IP address and external IP addresses was through third-party. Ct. rejected defendant’s claim that he had reasonable expectation of privacy in his personal internet traffic data, or that case was governed by holding in Carpenter, 138 S.Ct. 2206, where Court found that govt. needed warrant to collect historical cell-site location information. Record also supported defendant’s conviction on charge that he changed password of employee of former employer, even though defendant insisted that his actions did not result in any damage, where Ct. found that defendant’s actions impaired availability of former employee’s computer.