Amendment IV

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

This amendment goes hand in hand with the Third Amendment in protecting people's homes; preventing the unlawful search of ones home, and the unlawful seizure of their belongings or property. In order for these things to occur lawfully, proper papers and warrants had to be approved by a judge, essentially giving permission to law enforcement to conduct their searches and seizures. This amendment is used a lot in law enforcement, requiring officers to obtain warrants before searching through a subjects property or belongings. In the modern digital age, warrants need to be obtained before searching through someones online presence, preventing unlawful searches and seizures through the Internet.

This political cartoon represents the unlawful search through someone's digital property, as discussed above. The Justice Department is pictured having broken into a man's house and logged onto his computer, which in turn woke the man up. The consent for the Justice Department to search through this man's computer is implied to not have been received.

Government agencies like the NSA have been believed to be constantly watching citizens through their technology; keeping cameras and audio equipment on at all times despite user consent in order to keep tabs on the country. As people become paranoid of an increasing likelihood of the development of a Big Brother style surveillance system over the world, images like this are used to stir up public reaction and imply that people are being lied to about their fourth amendment rights.