Supreme Court Strikes Down Warrantless Searches of Hotel Records | Hacker News Reader

Supreme Court Strikes Down Warrantless Searches of Hotel Records

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82 pointsDiabloD39 comments

This headline isn't true. They still allow warrantless searches, and there will still be such searches.

This information can be obtained by an administrative subpoena (See an example of one at http://www.docstoc.com/docs/79005165/Administrative-Subpoena, notice they aren't required to list reasons such a subpoena would be invalid) or a police request, it's just that the hotel can choose to have a judge review the decision, and attempt to quash the subpoena.

What the supreme court said is that you can't arrest the hotel employee/owner for not handing over the information immediately, which was part of the LA law.

Good Coverage here: http://www.scotusblog.com/2015/06/opinion-analysis-an-opport...

"What the supreme court said is that you can't arrest the hotel employee/owner for not handing over the information immediately, which was part of the LA law."

Didn't compliance also require a valid ID from whoever was checking in? This decision permits an anonymous(cash) business transaction.

Which is really interesting -- if you are a top tier Hilton member (Gold/Diamond), the front desk folks are not even allowed to ask for your ID or credit card (as long as you have a CC stored in your Hilton HHonors profile).

What do you do if your profile is compromised?

Huh? I have HHonors Gold and I can't think of a single instance when I haven't been asked for an ID and credit card.

What would they do in countries that require hotels to scan ID?

If you're in the US and that is happening, it's a "Brand Standards" violation: the hotel can start losing reservations from Hilton if they are a franchise, and the employee can get disciplined if they are a corporate property. The next time that it happens, call the HHonors helpdesk and complain...and they'll usually comp you 1000 HHonors points and send you on your way after sending the hotel a nastygram.

This is something that just started happening in March...so, it's also possible that some hotels just don't have a clue yet, but honestly, there's no excuse if you have a reservation with your hhonors number on the profile.

Ah, I didn't realize it was new. All my domestic stays have been at Hyatt this year.

The decision does not erode the third party doctrine so subpoenaing the records still works. The key difference is the "precompliance review" part. Unlike when cops show up at your door, you can challenge the subpoena in court before having to respond to it. The whole point of a warrant requirement is judicial review of the search. A subpoena can always be reviewed by a motion to quash so a warrant is redundant.

Yet the FBI can issue an NSL and get the same information without the opportunity for judicial (from a real court, not the monkey one) review. We have a strange two faced system in the US.

Law enforcement routes around the "damage" caused by the Constitution.

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