A California appellate court recently upheld a subpoena authorized by a Miami-Dade County court requiring Google to produce emails of an account holder, where the account holder gave lawful consent to the disclosure.
In so doing, the court rejected Google’s argument that the Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. § 2702) gave Google discretionary power that would trump the court’s subpoena power – even in the face of the account holder’s consent. The court also rejected the account holder’s argument that “lawful consent” under the Stored Communications Act means “voluntary consent” and prohibits a court from compelling the account holder to consent to disclosure.
Joseph L. Raia, a shareholder in Gunster’s Miami office and co-chair of the firm’s international law practice was lead attorney for Navalimpianti USA on the matter. He was assisted by Michael B. Green, a business litigation associate in Gunster’s Miami office.
This important decision was covered by the following media:
- Court says Google can’t withhold private emails if consent is given (Daily Business Review, 10/28/14)
- Google can be compelled to produce emails pursuant to a civil subpoena (ZwillGen blog, 10/23/14)
- Google can’t hide behind Stored Communications Act: court (Law360, 10/21/14 – subscription may be required to view)
Read the entire opinion of the court (Negro vs. Navalimpianti USA, 10/21/14)