A Canadian citizen who anonymously posts criticism of Donald Trump online has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, alleging the agency is unlawfully attempting to uncover his identity and obtain extensive personal data from Google.
The lawsuit, filed last month in California, identifies the plaintiff only as “John Doe” and claims he regularly shares political commentary on social media opposing Trump’s policies and actions.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff has not travelled to the United States in more than a decade.
The lawsuit alleges the United States Department of Homeland Security, under Secretary Markwayne Mullin, issued an administrative summons to Google seeking broad records connected to the plaintiff’s online accounts.
The requested information reportedly includes the plaintiff’s identity, address, browsing history, account activity and data related to his physical movements.
Court filings claim the summons was improperly issued under laws related to import and export records and argue the request violates privacy and constitutional protections.
The complaint states that while Google has not yet handed over the records, the company informed the plaintiff it may not be able to delay compliance indefinitely.
Lawyers representing the plaintiff from the American Civil Liberties Union argue the effort to compel disclosure could expose the plaintiff’s identity and reveal sensitive details about his online speech and political activity.
Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor lawyers for the ACLU immediately responded publicly to requests for comment following news of the lawsuit.
The case is expected to raise broader questions surrounding digital privacy, anonymous political speech and government surveillance powers involving social media activity.