By John Beauge | Special to PennLive
Publication Date: 2025-12-29 00:34:00
An average internet user doing a search on an unencrypted browser, such as Google, has no enforceable expectation of privacy, the state Supreme Court has declared in a 6-1 ruling, says.
John E. Kurtz, 51, of Shamokin, raised the privacy issue in challenging his 2021 conviction on rape, attempted rape, kidnapping, attempted kidnapping and other charges involving five women in Northumberland, Columbia and Montour counties.
The former state prison guard sought suppression of records state police obtained from Google that led to charges in one of the rapes.
Justice David N. Wecht, in a recent opinion announcing the judgment of the court, wrote that before a person can challenge the validity of a search warrant, he or she first must demonstrate an expectation of privacy in the area searched.
He defined the issue in this case as whether a person who conducts general, unprotected Internet searches has an expectation of privacy in the records they generate.
The court’s majority found, as had…
