Sarah Roberts writes:
Yesterday, the ACLU filed a brief on behalf of our clients who are challenging the North Carolina Department of Revenue’s requests for records regarding Amazon.com customer purchases as part of a tax audit of Amazon. Those requests would reveal which individuals purchased which books, movies, music, and other private items through Amazon, from August 2003-February 2010. Last month, the federal court in the Western District of Washington granted our motion to intervene on behalf of our anonymous clients, whose purchase records reveal highly personal and intimate details about their lives. For example, our clients bought books on topics such as cancer, mental health issues, divorce, and atheism. The government has no right to know this kind of personal information, and we’re confident that the First Amendment prohibits the government from obtaining that information here.
The brief we filed yesterday is a response to North Carolina’s attempt to dismiss the case.
Read more on the ACLU Blog of Rights.
Via @DotRights