I'd be interested in your thoughts on this.
Well, I think the data may be seized and used against the defendants mentioned in the warrant. If the records contain other names and results, so be it.
This would be similar to the police requesting the phone records of a suspect to see if he called the victim -- your phone number may also show up if he called you. Irrelevant, yes, but the phone record needs to be preserved intact.
Now, as to the government actually taking action against the other steroid users uncovered by the search warrant, that's an issue I continue to have problems with. Let's say the police have a valid warrant to search your home because they suspect you of a crime, say a bank robbery. You're innocent (of course you are), but during the search they find marijuana (you naughty boy).
In my mind, they should ignore it -- it's not part of the warrant and they never would have found it otherwise. Legally, of course, they are not allowed to ignore it and you must be charged.
Unfortunately, the same principle applies here -- the police cannot ignore evidence of illegal activity -- in this case illegal drug (steroid) use.
"The 9th Circuit's loose treatment of "intermingled" data allows investigators to peruse the confidential electronic records of people who are not suspects, hoping to pull up something incriminating. It replaces a particularized warrant based on probable cause with a fishing license."
You know what this sounds like? A cop pulling over a suspicious vehicle for not signalling a lane change. A Mickey-Mouse charge, but it allows him an opportunity to go fishing. Who knows what he'll find.