[rescue] new house

[Nadine Miller]

Peter Corlett wrote:

> R. Lonstein <ross-sunhelp at lonsteins.com> wrote:
> [...]
> 
>>Perfect for computing or, um, horticulture. I'd say that's odd.
> 
> 
> In the UK, authorities sometimes look out for odd things to find people
> growing drugs in their house. One method is to look for unusually high
> electricity bills. Another one is to fly around with a helicopter and IR
> camera to look for particularly warm roofs.
> 
> So, for anybody here with an attic full of computers, have you had a visit
> from the drug squad yet? ;)

IR scanning has had a precedent set in the state courts in the 
US.  It was held as a violation of the Fourth Amendment:

<http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=99-8508>

As for power, I would expect that those records are not a matter 
of public record, so the police would require probable cause 
before getting a warrant for the records from the power company. 
  They have to do that with phone records as well.

However, IANAL nor do I play one on TV.

=Nadine=