No reasonable expectation of privacy in a computer left on in a common area

Defendant had no expectation of privacy in his computer in a common military living area that he left on and allowed others to use. [The court also finds there was no expectation of privacy because it was connected to a network, although the search was direct through the keyboard and not the network, a doubtful holding to me.] United States v. Rosario, 558 F. Supp. 2d 723 (E.D. Ky. 2008):

The Court finds that the search did not violate Rosario’s Fourth Amendment protections because he did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in his computer. Rosario connected his computer to a network through which the files on the computer were accessible by other computers on the same network. Furthermore, Rosario admitted that he left his computer on all the time and allowed numerous individuals access to it. Additionally, there was no password on Rosario’s computer at the time the search was conducted. Rosario took no steps to prevent others from accessing the files on his computer and surely contemplated that someone could access files on his computer either through the network or by using the computer with his permission. … Consequently, the Court finds that Rosario did not have a subjective expectation of privacy in his computer. Even if the Court were to conclude that Rosario had an expectation of privacy, by connecting his computer to a network and allowing others to use it, that expectation was unreasonable.

Though it has not been argued by the parties it is worth noting that Rosario’s expectation of privacy in his living space was also diminished by the fact that he lived in army barracks. See United States v. McCarthy, 38 M.J. 398 (CMA 1993) (holding that the threshold of a barracks/dormitory room does not provide the same sanctuary as the threshold of a private home). Rosario’s living area, where the computer was searched, was located in a long open room. Other soldiers’ bunks and living areas were separated from Rosario’s by furniture. The expectations of privacy in a setting such as this differ from those in a home. What is an unreasonable intrusion in a civilian context may be reasonable in a military context. Id. Thus, the Court finds that Sergeants McNeil, Jones, Allen and Specialist Vallade did not violate Rosario’s Fourth Amendment protections when they entered his living space to search his computer.