Alexander v. Verizon Wireless Servs. LLC.

• Date: 01 September 2018
• Author: Nowell, Laura

875 F.3D 243 (5TH CIR. 2017)

In Alexander v. Verizon Wireless Servs. LLC, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's judgement dismissing the plaintiff's complaint for failing to state a claim against the defendant, Verizon Wireless, under the Stored Communications Act (SCA), 18 U.S.C. [section][section] 2701 --2712. (28) The Fifth Circuit applied an objective standard to the good faith requirements found in the SCA, sections 2702(c)(4) and 2707(e)(1). The Court held that Verizon acted in an objectively reasonable manner after construing the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. (29)

1. BACKGROUND

   In 1986, Congress passed the Stored Communications Act, a part of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, to regulate the privacy of stored communications within the United States and to control the disclosure of stored electronic communications by service providers. (30) The general purposes of the SCA include: 1) prohibiting unauthorized access to certain electronic communications, 2) restricting service providers from voluntarily disclosing the contents of customer records to certain entities and individuals, and 3) permitting a governmental entity to compel a service provider to disclose customer communications or records in certain circumstances. (31) Section 2707(c)(4) of the SCA, referred to as the "emergency exception" states, "a service provider may divulge a record or other information pertaining to a subscriber to or customer of such service...to a governmental entity, if the...