Big Data Distortions: Exploring the Limits of the ABA LEATPR Standards

Abstract

This article examines the American Bar Associations’ Standards for Criminal Justice proposed Law Enforcement Access to Third Party Records (LEATPR). The article was written to be part of an Oklahoma Law Review Symposium on the subject of the LEATPR Standards. The article explores how the ABA LEATPR Standards can survive the impact of big data policing. Big data policing, as described here, involves utilizing vast, networked databases to investigate and also predict criminal activity. Big data policing involves the use of not just third party, but "fourth party" commercial aggregators as well as de-identified data sets, that eventually can be re-identified. Without doubt, the LEATPR standards acknowledge these issues, and arguably cover them, but as set forth in this article, big data distorts the traditional Fourth Amendment analysis and, thus, the LEATPR standards may require a few modifications to be useful in the future.

Keywords: big data, fourth amendment, ABA, law enforcement standards, third party doctrine, LEATPR