What happens if you accidentally see something illegal online?
Visiting an illegal site unintentionally is different from intentionally engaging in illegal activities online. If you accidentally accessed an illegal site, it is unlikely that you would be reported to the proper authorities, especially if it was a one-time incident and you promptly closed the site.
Can I get in trouble for accidentally stumbling upon illegal content? Accidentally encountering illegal content may not lead to legal trouble, but deliberately engaging with or sharing such content can result in consequences.
Using a search engine to search for illegal internet activity is a crime, and police can use your search behavior, search history, and social network to establish intent or conspiracy to commit a worse offense like possession of child p*rnography or even murder.
In fact, it's possible to go to jail for such a crime. This is known as a Strict Liability Law. Strict Liability Laws state that even if you commit the crime by accident, you can still be accused of the crime.
Could internet searches get you arrested / land you in trouble? Definitely! Internet searches can get a person arrested when it is related to criminal activity. Several searches could get the attention of law enforcement and can get one in trouble or imprisoned.
The FBI and other law enforcement organizations usually have no interest in what you might be looking up online. But if you are consistently looking up words, instructional materials, or other suspicious search terms that may indicate interest in criminal behavior, you may end up on a government watchlist.
So, yes, it pretty much can. To what extent — depends on where and what sorts of "suspicious searches".
When law enforcement wants to access your browsing data from an ISP, they usually must obtain a warrant or court order. Once law enforcement has obtained the proper legal documents, they can then contact the ISP and ask them to turn over all related records regarding your account.
Private investigators, law enforcement, and government officials can see your search history by asking your Internet Service Providers for your browsing data. This browser data is often collected by the government when wanting to prevent a crime or track criminal activity.
Google censors' certain content regardless of if you have safe search on or not. If you ever see something that don't belong online such as abuse, report it to law enforcement. From there, they will find the responsible for posting the content. It is unlikely law enforcement will go after you.
What if I didn't know something was illegal?
As judges like to say, ignorance of the law is no defense to criminal charges. There are exceptions, but the overwhelming majority of crimes don't require that the defendant know that their conduct is illegal. As generally applied, this rule isn't controversial.
For minor crimes involving a legitimate accident or misfortune, generally speaking, California criminal law excuses your conduct.
Anything that is illegal offline is also illegal on the internet, including fraud, theft, gambling, drug trafficking, prostitution, and child p*rnography.
Cops can potentially see a wide range of information on your phone, including your location history, internet browsing activity, call and text records, social media posts and messages, email communications, photos and videos, and app usage data.
It is illegal under federal law (18 U.S.C. §2252) to produce, distribute, receive or possess any child p*rnography. It is also illegal under federal law to knowingly search for and view child p*rnography even if the images are subsequently destroyed or deleted.
By default, Google deletes this data after 18 months. However, your users can change the deletion period to 3, 18, or 36 months, or to never delete data. Additionally, users can delete some or all of their saved activity at any time.
The legal distinction between viewing and possession often hinges on the concept of control. Possession usually implies that a person has control over the illegal material, such as having it stored on their personal device.
Once you delete your search history from your device, it's typically no longer accessible to the police. However, if they obtain a warrant, they may be able to access records of your search engine and browser history from your internet provider or another third-party source.
You can delete a specific activity, or delete your Search history from a specific day, a custom date range, or all time. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google app . Search history. Choose the Search history you want to delete.
The consequences of being placed on a government watchlist can be far-reaching. They can include questioning, harassment, or detention by authorities, or even an indefinite ban on air travel.
Can the FBI see what I search on Google?
The FBI can look at your search history if it has the opportunity, and it will undoubtedly take advantage of that if you are a person of interest.
Even if you turn on private browsing settings and go the distance to make yourself “incognito” online, law enforcement authorities can still access your search history regardless. No matter how hard you try to fight it, you almost always leave a “digital footprint” online.
Google might remove certain personal information that creates significant risks of identity theft, financial fraud, or other specific harms, which include, but aren't limited to, doxxing content, explicit personal images, and involuntary fake p*rnography.
Browsing History: ISPs generally keep records of your browsing history for a period ranging from 6 months to 2 years. Emails: Email data may be retained for 1 to 2 years, depending on the ISP. IP Address: ISPs often maintain logs of IP addresses for a few months to a year.
However, a website can also track a user's browsing history across other websites by using third-party cookies, as long as each site loads the cookie from the same domain.
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