Online Privacy

11-2-2010 North Carolina:

U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman of the Western District of Washington made a noteworthy ruling last week that protects the rights of consumers in their online activities. The ACLU sued the North Carolina Department of Revenue in Seattle over the state’s attempt to obtain sales information from Amazon.com. The state wanted to know everything that each North Carolinian purchased on Amazon over the last year. The ACLU argued the requests for information made by the state are unconstitutional because they violate the rights of internet users to free speech, anonymity, and privacy.

In Amazon.com, LLC v. Kenneth R. Lay, Judge Pechman ruled that North Carolina’s demands violated the Constitution and the federal Video Privacy Protection Act. She wrote: “The First Amendment protects a buyer from having the expressive content of her purchase of books, music, and audiovisual materials disclosed to the government . . . The fear of government tracking and censoring one’s reading, listening, and viewing choices chills the exercise of First Amendment rights.”

The fact that the state had sought personally identifiable information about each buyer and the item he or she purchased was unnecessary and an overreach by government. While not a criminal case, the analysis by the Court provides a good analysis of the privacy rights of individuals in the context of on-line activities that might be helpful in federal criminal practice. ..Source.. by Jaime Hawk