Bulletin boards and the US Secret Service

Abstract

Although the Constitution affords protection against “unreasonable searches and seizures”, the extent to which this privacy protection extends to BBS publishers and operators, and the private E-mail they contain was not clearly delineated until Congress enacted two federal statutes back in the 1980s. The first of these, The First Amendment Privacy Protection Act, was enacted in 1980 while the second was introduced during the 99th term of Congress and became the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986. Both Acts create specific tort claims for damages caused by unlawful searches and seizures, as defined by the statutes.¹