Civil Liberties Online

Freedman v. Am. Online, Inc. 303 F. Supp. 2d 121 (D. Conn. 2004)

Surveillance Power: Expanding the Scope of the Government?s Surveillance Power

PART C: Access to Business Records Held in Third Party Storage

Police officers executed an invalid search warrant to a subscriber’s Internet service provider (“ISP.”).  The ISP provided the subscriber’s name, addresses, telephone numbers, account states, and billing information within six days of the request.  The subscriber plaintiff sued the police officers and the Town of Fairfield on the basis that its actions violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.  The police officers argued that the ISP acted during an emergency situation and therefore could have disclosed the information without a search warrant.  The court, looking to section 212, rejected the emergency argument because AOL took six days to respond and the situation did not seem to indicate an emergency.  The plaintiff’s summary judgment was granted in regard to the two police officers but denied against the Town of Fairfield.