8th Circuit Rules in Favor of Adminstrative Subpoena Use to Get Internet Data

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that an administrative subpoena can be used to obtain Internet service subscriber data. The case, on appeal from the U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota, hinged on the constitutional rights of Guy Wheelock, who was convicted of receiving child pornography. Wheelock challenged the use of the administrative subpoena -- rather than a warrant -- to obtain his Internet subscriber information, and his 15-year mandatory minimum sentence. The 8th Circuit upheld the constitutionality of that sentence. “With Comcast in possession of his subscriber data, Wheelock cannot claim a reasonable ‘expectation of privacy in [the] government’s acquisition of his subscriber information, including his IP address and name from third-party service providers,’” the 10-page decision said. “Because Wheelock had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the subscriber information, a warrant was not necessary,” it said.