E.D.Tenn.: No REP in all files on company server, except defendant’s own

In an economic espionage case, the defendant had no standing in a computer server that he had only some access to store his own files and no access to many files of others. He did have standing in his own files that were password protected. United States v. Roberts, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123188 (E.D. Tenn. December 21, 2009):

In so finding, the Court is guided by the decision of the District Court for the District of Connecticut, which held that while a supervisor had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his own work area and in other areas in which he worked, he had no reasonable expectation of privacy in data on computers other than that on his own desk. United States v. Costin, No. 3:05-CR-38, 2006 WL 2522377, *6 (D. Conn. July 31, 2006). Similarly, the present defendants could not expect privacy in computer files, other than their own files that were password protected, on Wyko’s server. On the other hand, the password protected files resemble the records in United States v. Mancini, 8 F.3d 104, 110 (1st Cir. 1993). In Mancini, the First Circuit found that the defendant, a mayor, had an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy in his work records stored in an “archive attic” because the storage area was upstairs from his office of nineteen years, the defendant took precautions to assure that others would not have access to the records without his prior permission, and the defendant’s records were labeled and segregated from the other items stored in the attic. Id. Here, by having some files on the server password protected, the defendant(s) took steps to make sure that others could not access his/their files. Accordingly, the Court finds that the defendants had no reasonable expectation of privacy in data stored on the server other than their own files that were password protected.