DOJ's "hotwatch" real-time surveillance of credit card transactions

DOJ's "hotwatch" real-time surveillance of credit card transactions

By Christopher Soghoian
Published: December 2, 2010

A 10 page Powerpoint presentation (pdf) that I recently obtained through a Freedom of Information Act Request to the Department of Justice, reveals that law enforcement agencies routinely seek and obtain real-time surveillance of credit card transaction. The government's guidelines reveal that this surveillance often occurs with a simple subpoena, thus sidestepping any Fourth Amendment protections.

Continued. . .