| Video
Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (VPPA)
The Video Privacy
Protection Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-618) limits the disclosure
of personally identifiable information regarding video rentals.
It provides one of the strongest consumer privacy protections
in federal law -- stronger, for example, than those for health
records under HIPAA. The law was
passed largely in reaction to the disclosure of Supreme Court
nominee Robert Bork's video rental records by a newspaper
during confirmation hearings.
VPPA defines "personally
identifiably information" as that which "identifies
a person as having requested or obtained specific video materials
or services from a video tape service provider." A "video
tape service provider" is "any person, engaged in
the business, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce,
of rental, sale or delivery of prerecorded video cassette
tapes or similar audiovisual materials."
Video tape service
providers may disclose personally identifiable information
only:
- to the consumer
him- or herself;
- to any other
person, with the written consent of the consumer;
- to any other
person, if the disclosure is simply of names and addresses,
and
- the consumer
has been provided with an opportunity to opt-out;
and
- the disclosure
does not identify title, description or subject matter
(though subject matter may be disclosed if "for
the exclusive use of marketing goods and services to
the consumer");
- to any other
person, if in the ordinary course of business;
- to a law enforcement
agency, pursuant to a federal or state warrant, a grand
jury subpoena, or a court order, provided that
- the consumer
is provided with prior notice, and
- there is
a showing of probable cause to believe that the records
are relevant to a legitimate law enforcement enquiry;
or
- pursuant to
a court order in a civil proceeding, upon showing of a compelling
need, provided
- the consumer
is given reasonable notice; and
- afforded
the opportunity to contest the request.
VPPA permits any
person aggrieved by a violation of its disclosure rules to
bring a civil action for damages in a federal court, provided
this is done within two years of the alleged violation.
It would appear
from the language of the VPPA that it also applies to DVDs
and video games rented from the same sorts of provider, but
no court cases have tested this supposition to date. (Disclosures
related to video-on-demand services from a cable television
provider are covered by another law.)
Uncertainty also
attends
the interaction of the VPPA's prior notice and probable cause
requirements with the recently-passed USA Patriot Act, which
allows "sneak-and-peak" (no-notice) warrants in
many cases, and also lowers the general standard for warrants
from probable cause to "in the course of an ongoing investigation."
States are not
preempted from passing video privacy protections greater than
those afforded by VPPA, and many have done so in the intervening
years.
See also:
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