In Sanchez v. LADOT, published May 23, 2022, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit against the defendant city and agency under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 and the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act. As a condition of giving permits to dockless e-scooter companies, the agency required e-scooter operators to provide vehicle location data through an application programming interface, MDS. MDS automatically complies real-time data on each e-scooter's location by collecting the start and end points and times of each ride taken. The plaintiff alleged that the agency could use the information along with other information to identify trips by individuals to sensitive positions.
The 9th Circuit rejected the argument. A person has no legitimate expectation of privacy in information the person voluntarily turns over to third parties. The plaintiff knowingly and voluntarily disclosed the information to the e-scooter operators by renting the e-scooters and agreeing to the company's privacy policies. The nature of the disclosed data indicated a diminished expectation of privacy. It disclosed the location of an e-scooter typically rerented after each individual trip. The collection of data was therefore not a search and did not violate the 4th Amendment, or the California constitution. The court also affirmed denial of the CalECPA claim, on the ground that the statute did not create a private right of action.