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In a groundbreaking decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously ruled that law enforcement agencies must obtain a wiretap order to monitor a user's Facebook account, even in the absence of evidence of criminal activity. 

The court's ruling came on Thursday, favoring Facebook's argument that a warrant alone is insufficient for tracking a user's social media activities.

The case arose when New Jersey law enforcement authorities sought to compel Facebook to provide the content of two users' accounts every 15 minutes over a span of 30 days using just a warrant. 

The state contended that the warrant was justified since the data was already stored on Facebook's servers and not a real-time stream of the user's actions.

Wiretap order needed for electronic communications

However, the court dismissed the state's argument, deeming it obsolete and emphasizing that it would render New Jersey's wiretap laws meaningless.

 The ruling highlighted that law enforcement should apply for a wiretap order to access future electronic communications from Facebook users' accounts, demonstrating a higher legal standard and requiring stronger justification than a warrant.

The involvement of technology giants Google and Microsoft as “amici curiae” further emphasized the significance of the case. 

They informed the court that New Jersey was the only state where warrants were used instead of wiretap orders to obtain personal communications. Other states typically rely on wiretap orders, which necessitate more substantial grounds and the failure of alternative investigative methods.

Privacy advocates celebrated the court's decision, emphasizing the importance of heightened protections for private conversations.

 Jennifer Granick, a surveillance and cybersecurity counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, lauded the ruling, stating, "It's great to see the New Jersey Supreme Court make clear that whenever the government seeks ongoing access to our private conversations, it must meet the heightened protections required under state law and the federal and state constitutions."