Yahoo Will Divulge Pretty Much Anything for $60

[Darth Sushi]

Yahoo Will Divulge Pretty Much Anything for $60
By Mark Wilson, Dec 7, 2009 10:20 AM

"

On one hand, it's reassuring to know that Yahoo will work with law enforcement to bust criminals, digging through their private messages to get the job done. On the other, $60 is a low price for our privacy.

For $20, Yahoo will give authorities your basic user ID information. For $30-$40, that jumps to the contents of subscriber accounts, including email. And for $60, police basically own the place. Full contents and logs of Yahoo Groups are at their disposal.

Of course, it's good that Yahoo keeps these prices in check, only charging authorities cost for retrieving records (meaning your taxes pay Yahoo less than they could). Then again, it's flat-out alarming to consider the data trail we all leave, its surprising permanence and the ease with which it can be accessed.

And if you really want to be freaked out, Cryptome is assembling these lawful spying policies by company. Their list already includes communication providers Cox, SBC, Sprint and AT&T.

What do you have to use this day and age to be dishonest? Snail mail and walkie talkies? "

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5420551/yahoo-wil...nything-for-60

[Rart]

Does this mean they can access our info without a warrant, if they pay 60$?

[Eros-x]

Damn, yahoo must be desperate for money.

[ShadowsServant]

Seems so, well there you go, I will no longer be using yahoo anymore. Not that I did anyway.

[Rart]

I've been reading the comments on the article, and it does appear that you will need a warrant in order to obtain the information, and this is simply Yahoo's method of obtaining "reimbursement".

However this comment brings up a good point:

The danger is that they probably make money on these requesets. It's not like it costs $60 to give them account access. When its profitable to give away your account information to law enforcement, that means they're not going to scrutinize any requests all that hard. Warrant expired? Wrong Name? Oh well, we're making money here, give it to them anyway.