A US Magistrate Judge has protected the privacy of countless individuals when he refused to allow federal prosecutors access to Amazon.com purchase records. Judge Stephen Crocker ruled the First Amendment affirms a citizens’ right to keep reading habits private.
The judge said, “…investigation into the reading habits of Amazon’s customers could frighten countless potential customers into canceling planned online book purchases.” Additionally, “The subpoena is troubling because it permits the government to peek into the reading habits of specific individuals without their knowledge or permission…. It is an unsettling and un-American scenario to envision federal agents nosing through the reading lists of law-abiding citizens while hunting for evidence against somebody else.”
Score one for the good guys. One doesn’t have to be liberal or conservative to appreciate the protection of an individual’s privacy over legal purchases.
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