Attorney Daniel Kann gives his legal take on whether Capitol One violates any or our fourth amendment or privacy rights as a consumer. Transcript Below:

My area of law specializes in criminal defense and fourth amendment searchandseizure issues, which also include privacy issues. An interesting issue has come up in the news lately with regard to the credit card company Capital One, whose added language to their contract with their credit card holders advising them that they reserve the right to visit them at their homes or places of business, or contacted by email, text, or voicemail and that they may also alter the caller ID, so that the cardholder doesn't know that its Capital One that's calling them.

I've been approached by several members of the news media who have asked me if this is a fourth amendment issue and the answer is no, the fourth amendment only applies to government agencies that are involved in searchandseizure and privacy issues these agencies generally include state, local, and federal law enforcement.

Capitol One credit card company is not a government agency. They are a private agency, sort of like a private citizen, so the Fourth Amendment protections afforded us against unreasonable search and seizure expectation to privacy doesn't apply in this case. The way I see this is it's more of a contract issue, so a judge may find that this term or this clause of the contract is unenforceable in that there's unfair bargaining power between a big bank or corporation like Capital One versus an individual card holder so, this would be called a contract of adhesion and the clause maybe struck down by a court.

Other issues might apply, such a stocking or harassment, but that's something else that would have to be decided by a court and falls outside usually the realm of fourth amendment protections. If you have any questions with regard to the fourth amendment and how it applies to illegal search and seizure or privacy issues, please feel free to give me, Daniel Kann, a call and I'd be happy to talk to you about it.
Thank you

For more information on illegal search and seizures, please visit http://www.kannlawoffice.com/illegal...

See Daniel Kann being quoted on this topic in an LA Times article here: http://touch.latimes.com/#section/1/...