If a person holds Fourth Amendment privacy interest in the data of their Bitcoin business face the new question. The Fifth Circuit put into place that Bitcoin data is matching to bank records and nothing to do with the Fourth Amendment immunity.
The federal agents, in the United States of America V. Gratkowski, has evaluated publically the digital currency exchange the Coinbase and the Bitcoin Blockchain. They share all the information about the Coinbase consumers from their accounts had sent the bitcoins has been sent to the website related to child pornography.
And a search warrant was issued for the Gratkowki’s house, and that resulted in there was a connection related to child pornography.
Moreover, in his appeal, He challenges if the federal agents violate his Fourth Amendment protection right against unreasonable searches. He further, proclaiming that the Government has breached his assumption of privacy in the records of his Bitcoin transactions on Coinbase and Bitcoin’s blockchain as well.
Typically, a person should have an expectation of privacy in the component for Fourth Amendment protections right for the attachment.
In general, under the doctrine of third-party, an individual has no legal expectation of privacy about the records. Under the third-party doctrine, a person generally has no legitimate expectation of privacy in information he intentionally turns over to the third party.
Likewise, he also proclaimed that his Bitcoin record must hold similar protection rights as those outlined in Carpenter v. the United States of America, 138 S. Ct. 2206. It enlarges the Fourth Amendment Protections rights by reducing the relevancy of the doctrine of third-party in the context of Mobile phones.
Therefore, in the Fifth Circuit, it reveals that the records regarding the Bitcoin’s blockchain are more analogous to bank data, which is protected under the Fourth Amendment and are subject to the third-party doctrine.
Likely to the bank data, the Bitcoin blockchain shows the transferred amount of Bitcoin, and the second one is the sending address from where the Bitcoin has to be sent, and the third one is the address of the receiving party whom to receive the Bitcoin.
The Court also argued that every Bitcoin customer has an entrance to the people Bitcoin blockchain and can find every Bitcoin address and its particular transfers.
Moreover, the Coinbase information is matched to bank data, as held by the Fifth Circuit. Now there is no reason for handling Coinbase and other digital currency exchange institutions separately than traditional banks.
The Court further said that the bank’s records and Coinbase both come under the Bank Secrecy Act as Synchronize by financial institutions. And they give only limited records about individual digital currency transactions.
Furthermore, the Court also recommends that Bitcoin customers have the option to sustain their higher level of privacy without involving a third-party during exchange ad transactions.
Besides, the fact Bitcoin customers are enjoying a high level of privacy protection than those who practice other money-transfer sources. So, the Transaction record is not secure under the Fourth Amendment Bitcoin Data Match to Bank Records.