Third-Party Doctrine and Obtaining Cyber-Criminal Evidence

The cases which can be counted as searching and seizing the evidence without needing the legal warrant,are situations proposed as “Third-Party Consent” doctrine. In the American system, officials can search any place or object without having a warrant or even a probable cause, provided that a person authorized to consent voluntarily agrees to the inspection. This doctrine has always been involved with two issues including determining: “Third-party consent territory” and “the identity of the authorized persons to consent”. Gradually, foundations of doctrine were challenged and it was claimed that it did not have the capability of surviving in the current situation and according to its old understanding. In fact, the arrival of modern technology in the age of communication and in the cyber territory due to the change of subjects and the conceptual transformation of the doctrine in the field of technologies, it has faced many challenges. Doubts towards efficiency of the doctrine became apparent when it was observed that almost all services in the current age are being provided by Third-Party; hence, the traditional reading of the Doctrine leaves no trace of privacy. In this review, we will explain the Third-Party Doctrine in the cyber environment.