디지털 저장매체에서 Plain View 원칙을 적용하기 위한 조건 – 미 연방판례를 중심으로 -

The privacy space is expanding into cyberspace through PCs, clouds and mobile devices along with the development of ICT. In addition, as digital storage media is rapidly integrated, the amount of storage data is growing tremendously over physical size. Given this trend, privacy for digital media should be more strictly protected. But in digital storage media, searches have the same effect as a month or a year of scouring residential areas, because law enforcement agencies will be free to read all files in the media at their offices. This type of search and seizure is similar to searching the entire globe for a piece of paper as evidence, and is like the execution of a general warrant. If the Plain View doctrine is applied to evidence of other crimes found in the course of such searches, the person who has been raided once against the digital storage media will be permanently locked in a link to the indictment. However, in a situation where digital storage media is commercialized as a tool of crime, it is also not fair to reject clear evidence found during the search, so we should seek a compromise that can protect privacy while applying plain view doctrine during the search and seizure process of digital storage media. This paper will prove that the Plain View doctrine, which is recognized in the U.S., cannot be applied in the search and seizure of digital storage media. In order to apply the Plain View doctrine, it would be argued that law enforcement agencies should be required to ensure the legitimacy of searches by limiting the scope of searches before they directly read the file with plain eyes, and that the Plain View principle should be applicable to evidence found during visual inspection thereafter.