Judge approves alternate monitoring software on SBF parents’ phones
Judge Lewis Kaplan approved the alternative method employed by Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers to monitor his parents’ cell phones despite not meeting some of the conditions set by the court. Here’s what happened:
Alternate monitoring method
SBF’s lawyers told the court that the defense had submitted a list of the apps SBF’s parents use to the government and installed monitoring software on both their phones.
The software will keep track of the internet browsing, messages and apps on the phone to ensure that SBF does not violate his bail terms.
However, the software is not capable of photographing the user every five minutes as stipulated in the court’s previous order.
To cover for this insufficiency, the software includes a “keystroke logging function” that tracks all activity on the phone and keeps a digital record of it that is updated every few minutes. The software will also track all voice and video calls made through the phones.
A technical consultant will review the logs three times a week. Then, any violations will consequently be reported to the government.
Stricter bail terms
The stricter conditions come after prosecutors found that SBF had violated his bail terms by using an encrypted messaging app to contact a former employee and a virtual private network (VPN) to hide his internet activity.
Prosecutors requested the court to take action against this disregard. The court granted prosecutors’ request in March.
The court ordered his bail conditions be modified, including swapping his laptop for a new device that would keep activity tabs via monitoring software and swapping his cell phone for a non-smartphone version. It also restricted his internet usage and stipulated that his parent’s phones be monitored to avoid potential circumvention of bail conditions.
The court had set the deadline to implement the order on April 4. However, the defense requested a deadline extension as it needed more time to meet all conditions.
The post Judge approves alternate monitoring software on SBF parents’ phones appeared first on CryptoSlate.
[h/t Assad Jafri]