General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Destroying the Right to Be Left Alone [View all]jeff47
(26,549 posts)The Internet is based on a series of shorter connections. Commonly called "hops".
Let's take the example of doing a Google search for "Privacy Rights".
My computer wraps up a packet and sends it to my ISP.
My ISP opens the packet, sees it's not for someone on their network. Sends the packet up to their ISP.
Their ISP opens the packet, figures out it's not for their network, and sends the packet to their ISP.
Their ISP opens the packet, figures out what server is in the direction of Google, and sends it to them.
That server opens the packet, figures out what server is in the direction of Google, and sends it to them.
(This step repeats a few times)
Google's ISP receives the packet, figures out it's for Google, and hands it to Google's servers
Google's servers receive the packet, do the search, and then wrap up the results in another series of packets. Which are sent back using the same process.
So it's not possible to connect to Fred directly. The only way to do that is to literally run a cable between you and Fred. If you use the Internet to transmit the data, it's going to be sent to other parties.
The way you can maintain privacy in this situation is to encrypt the contents of what you send over the Internet. That way, the 3rd parties can't read what you're saying.
The "third party doctrine" would mean the encrypted data is unprotected. But if you and Fred don't share the decryption keys with anyone, those keys are protected and the data can only be revealed via proper 4th/5th amendment channels.