Facebook and tech industry can appeal “bulk search warrant” ruling in key test of online privacy rights

Five judges of the New York State Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of a sweeping order from July that forced Facebook to turn over information about 381 accounts at once in a controversial “bulk warrant” process. And significantly, the judges also gave permission to a group of outside companies and organizations -- ranging from Google to Kickstarter to the ACLU -- to participate in the proceedings.

The case itself is about a fraud scandal in which hundreds of New York public employees, including firefighters and police officers, claimed disability payments, even as Facebook photos allegedly showed them engaging in activities like deep-sea diving and teaching karate lessons. But on a legal level, the case turns on what the government must do to obtain such information from Facebook. While New York prosecutors say they need to get the information in a way that prevents defendants from deleting it, Facebook has argued that the sweeping request amounts to a general search warrant of a kind that is forbidden by the US Constitution.