LOS ANGELES , California ( CNN ) -- A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that federal investigators ' seizure of drug-test results of more than 90 major league baseball players five years ago was illegal . Alex Rodriguez has admitted using a `` banned substance '' during the 2001-2003 seasons . The decision recommended new guidelines for computer searches to prevent investigators from using information about people who are not named in a search warrant but whose private data is stored on a computer being searched . Investigators looking into steroid use by professional baseball players obtained search warrants and subpoenas for the drug tests results on 10 major league players , but they took the results on 104 players . The Major League Baseball Players Association sued for the return of the seized results , while the government argued investigators should be able to use them since they were `` in plain sight '' along with the other results during the search . The appeals court 's decision says such a standard for computer searches would be dangerous to everyone 's privacy as protected by the Constitution 's Fourth Amendment . `` Seizure of , for example , Google 's e-mail servers to look for a few incriminating messages could jeopardize the privacy of millions , '' wrote the 9th U.S . Circuit Court of Appeals judges . The judges noted that `` some players appear to have already suffered this very harm as a result of the government 's seizure . '' The decision referred to news reports published earlier this summer that quoted `` lawyers with knowledge of the results '' saying that players Sammy Sosa , Manny Ramirez , Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz were among those testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs . Rodriguez has admitted using a `` banned substance '' during the 2001-2003 seasons . The tests were conducted in 2003 under a collective bargaining agreement between Major League Baseball and the players ' union . `` Urine samples were to be collected during the first year of the agreement and each sample was to be tested for banned substances , '' the court said . `` The players were assured that the results would remain anonymous and confidential ; the purpose of the testing was solely to determine whether more than five percent of players tested positive , in which case there would be additional testing in future seasons . '' The test results were taken in 2004 during searches in California and Nevada of Comprehensive Drug Testing -- the company that kept the results -- and another company that stored the urine samples .
Court rules investigators ' seizure of drug - test results five years ago was illegal . Court recommended new guidelines for conducting searches for investigation . Court 's decision says feds search violated America 's Fourth Amendment .