State Cannot Get Titles Sold by Amazon
Amazon.com does not have to turn over information to North Carolina tax officials that would link individual users to the specific books and videos purchased online, a federal court ruled.
The North Carolina Revenue Department made several requests to Amazon for information concerning online sales made to North Carolina residents so that the state could assess taxes on Amazon. In responding to the requests, Amazon.com provided information about millions of purchases made to residents in the state that included the title and description of books, DVDs, and music selections. However, Amazon.com did not provide the name, address, phone number, or other personally identifiable information about the customers. When the state requested the specific names, Amazon filed for declaratory judgment arguing that the information violated its customers’ privacy rights under the First Amendment and the federal Video Privacy Protection Act.
The trial court in Seattle granted Amazon.com’s request, finding, “The First Amendment protects a buyer from having the expressive content of her purchase of books, music, and audiovisual materials disclosed to the government. Citizens are entitled to receive information and ideas through books, films, and other expressive materials anonymously.” The court further said the tax collector did not need the specific information because the “requests for information were made solely in the context of calculating Amazon’s potential tax liability” and Amazon provided “all of the data necessary to determine its tax liability.”
As to the violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act, the court found that Amazon was a “video tape service provider” under the Act. The Act prohibits such providers from disclosing any personally identifiable information concerning customers. As a result, Amazon could not disclose the information to the Department of Revenue.
The court banned North Carolina from collecting the information to the extent the state “demands that Amazon disclose its customers’ names, addresses or any other personal information” because such disclosure “violates the First Amendment.” The court would allow the state to issue “a new request for information as to only the names and addresses of Amazon’s customers and general product information, assuming that the DOR destroys any detailed information that it currently possesses.”
Amazon.com LLC v Kenneth R. Lay, U.S. Dist. Court, W.D. Washington, No. C10-664 MJP, issued October 25, 2010.