1/ On Friday, DEF submitted an Amicus Brief supporting James Harper as he petitions the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) for a Writ of Certiorari. 

In this legal brief, DEF is urging SCOTUS to hear Harper’s case.

https://www.defieducationfund.org/post/def-submits-amicus-brief-to-protect-american-s-fourth-amendment-rights

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3/ In support of James Harper challenge to the IRS, in Oct. 2023, DEF submitted an Amicus Brief  to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the IRS’s data collection practices violate Fourth Amendment rights because blockchain records are far more revealing than traditional financial records.

3/ In support of James Harper challenge to the IRS, in Oct. 2023, DEF submitted an Amicus Brief  to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the IRS’s data collection practices violate Fourth Amendment rights because blockchain records are far more revealing than traditional financial records.

https://www.defieducationfund.org/_files/ugd/e53159_492b137460ef4263aa43f3fcb946a1cd.pdf

4/ In this latest Amicus Brief, DEF argues that the IRS’s warrantless acquisition of digital asset transaction records from Coinbase violates the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

5/ The Brief focuses on the “third-party doctrine” – a legal principle that says if you voluntarily share information with a third party, you lose your Fourth Amendment protection over that information.

But we explain that, “[t]hird-party sharing defeats a person’s Fourth Amendment rights only under limited circumstances, none of which were present here.”

6/ The third-party doctrine should not apply to blockchain-based records that, once linked to a user’s identity, allow the government to both retroactively and prospectively monitor a person’s entire financial transaction history.

7/ We urge the Court to grant certiorari on Harper’s petition and affirm the constitutional principle that privacy protections must evolve with modern technology. 

New technology requires new considerations of the law, and we strongly urge SCOTUS to hear this case.

2/ For background, the case concerns a “John Doe” summons the IRS sent to Coinbase seeking information about users' financial transactions. After a court battle, the IRS was able to collect information about 8.9 million transactions from 14,355 Americans (of note, *none* of these Americans were accused of any wrongdoing prior to the summons).

TLDR: The lawsuit raises critical questions about whether individuals retain their right to privacy, guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment, in financial data shared with third-party platforms like Coinbase, particularly when that data can be linked to a blockchain address that reveals the user’s full transaction history, past and future.