Anonymity and the Digital Boundaries of Law: Challenges of High-Tech Crime and New Investigative Techniques
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Abstract
This paper examines the challenges that user anonymity on the internet, particularly on the TOR network and darknet, poses to contemporary criminal law theory and practice. The central focus is a case study of Operation Playpen, addressing the legal and ethical dilemmas arising from the FBI’s use of malware to identify users of a child pornography website. The analysis explores the deployment of sophisticated technical tools in light of the right to privacy, with particular emphasis on the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and relevant U.S. case law. The author concludes that effectively combating high-tech crime requires the precise legislative regulation of new special investigative measures, enabling the proportionate, lawful and judicially supervised use of advanced technological tools to de-anonymize users of digital communication networks and platforms.
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