Court Lets Amazon Protect Customer Purchase Info In North Carolina
from the phew dept
While Amazon was receiving a giant bill from Texas for not collecting sales tax, it had a good day concerning a similar issue in North Carolina. As you may recall, the state of North Carolina was demanding that Amazon tell it about every purchase made by a North Carolina resident, so that it could go after each of them for sales tax. Amazon already provided a ton of info to the state, including the date and price of each transaction, along with the city, county and zip code to which the order was shipped, along with the product codes identifying the products ordered. Basically, Amazon is already handing over the details of everything you purchase — except your name and address. Except North Carolina wanted that too, which seemed like an even bigger privacy violation.
Thankfully, a district court judge has ruled against the state, noting that it has “no legitimate need” for the info — though, did leave open the possibility that a “narrower” request for info could be legal. Of course, to some of us, it seems like Amazon is already turning over way too much info. What people buy in a state is not the state government’s business.
Filed Under: data, north carolina, privacy, sales tax
Companies: amazon
Comments on “Court Lets Amazon Protect Customer Purchase Info In North Carolina”
Hoarders without boarders?
Re: Re:
More like taxes without facts’s….
Sales tax and state lines
They can’t know how much these people owe in taxes unless Amazon either collects the tax or tells them exactly what the people bought, neither of which the state can force them to do.
Maybe we’ll start to see more states move toward the New Hampshire model?
Colorado's law will be next?
Colorado recently passed a law that requires Amazon.com (and other >$100K in CO online retailers) to supply them with a report with on every name/address/total purchased at the end of each year.
Imagine if every state passed a law like that – but all of them slightly different. You’d need a team of lawyers to figure it all out and keep current on the latest bullshit. Coincidentally, the founders seem to have thought of this and gave only the federal government jurisdiction over insterstate commerce.
But honestly, most of us just don’t want to pay sales tax.
What is not mentioned in this article is that the court in Washington state based its decision in major part upon the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
Thank Lord for the First Amendment then . . .