U.S. lawmakers raise privacy concerns over new hacking rules

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. Congress on Thursday asked the Justice Department to clarify how a looming rule change to the government’s hacking powers could impact privacy rights of innocent Americans.

The change, due to take place on December 1, would let judges issue search warrants for remote access to computers located in any jurisdiction, potentially including foreign countries. Magistrate judges can normally only order searches within the jurisdiction of their court, which is typically limited to a few counties.