A US judge has heard a defence motion to suppress evidence in a case involving an alleged mobster who was tracked by a secret surveillance system installed in his personal computer.
Nicodemo Scarfo Jr, the son of imprisoned mobster "Little Nicky" Scarfo, is charged with running illegal gambling and loan-sharking operations for the Gambino crime family in New Jersey.
The case could set an important precedent for computer privacy issues, said David Sobel, general counsel Electronic Privacy Information Centre.
"It addresses which rules should apply to hi-tech law enforcement investigations and whether law enforcement can install secret devices in computers in our homes and offices," Sobel said.
Attorneys in the case, the first in the United States in which federal agents installed a secret surveillance system in a personal computer system under search warrant and the first to be tested in US courts, are under a gag order.
The FBI recorded virtually every keystroke made on Scarfo's computer at his New Jersey business, including passwords. Whether its system is hardware or software is unknown -- thus the motion to reveal its makeup so defence attorneys can have it analysed and make a case to suppress the evidence it gathered.
The US Supreme Court threw out a case last month in which police gathered evidence using a thermal imaging device.
