EPIC Urges Federal Appeals Court to Safeguard Donor Privacy
EPIC has filed a "friend-of-the-court" brief in a donor privacy case before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Under California law, nonprofit organizations are required to send the state each year a list of donors and their donations. EPIC said this reporting requirement "infringes on several First Amendment interests, including the free exercise of religion, the freedom to express views without attribution, and the freedom to join in association with others without government monitoring." EPIC traced the history of anonymous giving in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. EPIC also explained that California has "failed to implement basic data protection standards" for donor information. In amicus briefs for the U.S. Supreme Court, EPIC has argued for similar Constitutional privacy rights in Packingham v. North Carolina, Doe v. Reed, Watchtower Bible v. Stratton, and Patel v. Los Angeles.