Consent: A Common Exception to the Fourth Amendment The Constitution of the United States of America protects the rights of the people because it limits the power of the government against its people. The rights guaranteed by the Constitution are better known as the Bill of Rights. Within these rights, the Fourth Amendment protects “the right of the people to the security of their persons, homes, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures […]” (Knetzger & Muraski, 2008). Under the Fourth Amendment, a search warrant must be issued before a search and seizure takes place. However, consent to a lawful search is one of the most common exceptions to the search warrant requirements. When law enforcement authorities need to search a computer or any other electronic medium, consent must be given. Consent is the agreement to research with “the conscious and voluntary authority to do so” (Knetzger & Muraski, 2008). However, consent issues sometimes arise when a computer shares two users with different user IDs and passwords. In this scenario, if consent is given to search a computer; the...