Should Computer-Repair People Also be Required to Report Contraband Images?

Congress - Please Close the Loophole

Federal law (42 USC 13031) lists over 40 occupations that are required to report child abuse and child pornography to law enforcement. Everyone from chiropractors to film developers are mandated to advise authorities when a young person is suffering or has suffered. The law also provides immunity from civil and criminal prosecution for those who dutifully report.

Noticeably absent from the list are civilian digital forensics examiners and computer-repair personnel.  This oversight is shocking since these groups regularly see contraband images on client computers.  Some of the examiners to whom I have spoken advised me that they are reluctant to report in the belief that an attorney/client privilege trumps their duty to report.  For example, if the examiner is working on a computer that came to their lab from an attorney in a civil lawsuit, the examiner may believe that the attorney/client privilege in the civil case overrides their (non-mandated) duty to report the criminal act.

Several states now have laws that include digital forensics examiners as mandatory reporters (National Conference, 2013), (MS Revised).  The laws do not require examiners to proactively search for images. The laws only require that examiners report contraband image if the images are found in the course of the examiners normal work.  Federal law has not yet caught up with those progressive states who include digital forensics personnel among the mandatory reporters.

In the Journal of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (2004, Vol.19, p.77) Lisa Hansen wrote an article titled, Attorney's Duty to Report. In the article Hansen discusses the pros and cons of reporting crimes against children by those under the attorney/client privilege umbrella.  She concludes by saying, 

"On the one hand, it could be said that any person, whether an attorney or not, has a moral duty to help protect those who are abused, especially children who are unable to protect themselves. On the other hand, the longstanding traditions of confidentiality, the attorney-client privilege, and the duty to protect your client's confidences argue for silence". 

On behalf of abused children I can only hope that the argument for silence meets with justice that is not only blind but also deaf.  It is time for legislators to close the loophole in 42 USC 13031 that omits civilian digital forensics examiners and computer-repair personnel.  Bringing that important group into the ranks of mandatory reporters will likely result in the identification of some dangerous offenders and result in the rescue of innocents.

=================================================

Child abuse reporting. 42 USC 13031. Cornell University Law School. Retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/13031 

National Conference of State Legislatures. (January 24, 2013). Child Pornography Reporting Requirements for Computer Technicians and Information Technology Workers. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/telecom/child-pornography-reporting-requirements.aspx

Missouri Revised Statutes. Chapter 568. Offenses Against the Family. Section 568.110. Professional's duty to report on film, photographs, videotapes, failure to report, penalty--exceptions. Retrieved from http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C500-599/5680000110.HTM

Hansen, L. (2004, Vol. 19.). Attorney's Duty to Report. Journal of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.(pp.59-77). Retrieved from http://www.aaml.org/sites/default/files/Journal_vol_19-1-4_Attorney_Duty_to_Report_Child_Abuse.pdf

====================================================================