Thursday, October 28, 2010

Amazon Shoppers in NC - Recent Ruling

The NC Department of Revenue asked Amazon.com to provide information to help with collecting taxes for online sales from 8/2003 through 2/2010.  Amazon did provide product codes of what was purchased, which could be books about very personal or sensitive topics, but they withheld information that might allow someone to link a book specifically back to you.

It went to court and the federal judge ruled that the detailed NCDOR request violates Internet users' rights to free speech, privacy, and anonymity.   

Sources:
"Federal Court Upholds Amazon Users' Privacy and Free Speech Rights", ACLU, Press Release, 10/26/2010.

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