Matthew Tokson on Government Purchases of Private Data
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 4 December 2023
⏱️ 36 minutes
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Summary
Is the Fourth Amendment doing any work anymore? In a forthcoming article entitled “Government Purchases of Private Data,” Matthew Tokson, a professor at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, details how, in recent years, federal and state agencies have begun to purchase location information and other consumer data, as government attorneys have mostly concluded that purchasing data is a valid way to bypass Fourth Amendment restrictions.
Lawfare Senior Editor Stephanie Pell sat down with Matthew to discuss this article, where he attempts to bring this constitutional evasion to light. They talked about the two main arguments offered for why the purchase of private data does not violate the Fourth Amendment, his responses to these arguments, and the recommendations he makes to courts, legislators, and government agencies to address the Fourth Amendment and privacy concerns surrounding government purchases of private data.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following podcast contains advertising. |
| 0:04.0 | To access an ad-free version of the Lawfair Podcast, |
| 0:08.0 | become a material supporter of Lawfair at Patreon.com slash Lawfair. That's Patreon.com |
| 0:16.4 | slash Lawfair. Also check out Lawfair's other podcast offerings, rational security, chatter, lawfare no bull, and the aftermath. |
| 0:30.0 | This is a passenger announcement. You can now book your train on Uber and get 10% back in credits to spend on Uber. |
| 0:42.0 | So you can order your own fries instead of eating |
| 0:45.7 | everyone else's. |
| 0:48.7 | Trains, now on Uber. |
| 0:50.4 | T's and C's apply. Check the Uber app. These companies want to keep this stuff out of court. |
| 0:57.0 | They don't want the constitutionality of this to be tested in court because it's I |
| 1:05.3 | argued that it's not constitutional. I think at the very least it's an issue that's up in the air |
| 1:10.0 | whether this is legal or not. And so if you can keep this out of court, |
| 1:14.2 | then it won't be held unconstitutional. |
| 1:16.4 | You can keep selling this data. |
| 1:17.8 | So these companies often have contracts in place, |
| 1:20.8 | almost like nondisclosure agreements that say, |
| 1:23.0 | don't mention our product in a public record, don't mention our product in court. |
| 1:27.0 | You can use it to generate leads and sort of dig this evidence up |
| 1:31.0 | through other means. |
| 1:32.0 | That's a process referred to as parallel construction. of Senior Editor at Law Fair, and this is the Law Fair Podcast, December 4, |
| 1:44.5 | 2023. Is the Fourth Amendment doing any work anymore? |
| 1:49.9 | In a forthcoming article entitled Government Purchases of Private Data, Matthew Toczen, a professor at the University of Utah, S. J. Quine College of Law, details how in recent years federal and state agencies have begun |
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