Crypto advocates file amicus brief to address users' Fourth Amendment privacy rights
Cryptocurrency advocacy group DeFi Education Fund (DEF) has urged a United States court to consider the unique aspects of blockchain technology when evaluating the privacy rights of cryptocurrency users under the Fourth Amendment.
DEF filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals (First Circuit) on Oct. 20, supporting James Harper’s appeal against the Internal Revenue Service as part of a fight to prevent the U.S. government from having unfettered access to a user's transaction history on cryptocurrency platforms.
Harper was one of 14,355 Coinbase users whose data was handed over by the cryptocurrency exchange to the IRSfollowing a court order in 2017, which sparked a fight for stronger digital privacy rights.
DEF is proud to support the industry by filing amicus briefs in precedent-setting cases, such as Harper v. IRS, which involves a John Doe subpoena to Coinbase that resulted in over 14,000 users’ private financial information being sent to the IRS.
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DEF argued that the Fourth Amendment needs to be revised to rebalance law enforcement’s investigative powers and an individual’s right to financial privacy in the digital age.
The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution serves to protect people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.
DEF also pointed to the case of Carpenter v United States to argue that the Fourth Amendment purports to limit the U.S. government’s capacity to obtain data from third-parties platforms like Coinbase.
The advocacy group further explained that because cryptocurrency transactions are traceable on public ledgers, it is possible to connect real-life identities to their pseudonymous addresses.
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