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A new lawsuit in Buffalo federal court says the Wegmans case is just one example of how the government is now using hacking in ordinary, day-to-day investigations, and not just in national security and foreign intelligence probes.

And they're doing it at the peril of individual privacy and security, the suit claims.

Brought by the ACLU, Privacy International, a London-based organization that defends privacy issues across the world, and a University at Buffalo law school clinic, the suit seeks evidence of what the groups call a "remarkable expansion of the government's surveillance powers."

This new tool, they argue in court papers, is so powerful and intrusive that it carries with it great risk to the privacy and security of both the individuals being investigated and the people around them.

"It's never before been the case that the government can accumulate so much important and sensitive personal information by accessing just one device," said Jonathan Manes, director of the UB Law School's Civil Liberties and Transparency Clinic.

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