How Digital Convenience Becomes a Government Backdoor

The Supreme Court has once again reminded Americans that digital privacy is the kind of quaint notion best left in textbooks. With no explanation, no debate, and no visible effort, the justices decided they didn’t feel like dealing with Harper v. Faulkender.

This was the case that could have dragged Fourth Amendment protections out of the rotary phone era and into a world where people actually use crypto and digital wallets and more. But apparently, that was too much work.

James Harper had the audacity to suggest that his rights might have been trampled when the IRS scooped up his crypto records from exchanges without so much as a warrant.

Harper’s problem wasn’t complicated. He wanted the Court to take a fresh look at the so-called third-party doctrine, the ancient legal theory that says if you share your data with a company, you’ve basically gifted it to the government.

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