Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/16-402_h315.pdf
Page Number: 92

Cite as:  585 U. S. ____ (2018) 

21 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

without creating any property right.3 

Carpenter’s  argument  is  particularly  hard  to  swallow 
because nothing in the Telecommunications Act precludes
cell  service  providers  from  charging  customers  a  fee  for 
accessing cell-site records.  See ante, at 12–13 (KENNEDY, 
J.,  dissenting).  It  would  be  very  strange  if  the  owner  of 
records  were  required  to  pay  in  order  to  inspect  his  own 

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3 See,  e.g.,  Freedom  of  Information  Act,  5  U. S. C.  §552(a)  (“Each
agency  shall  make  available  to  the  public  information  as  follows  . . .”);
Privacy  Act,  5  U. S. C.  §552a(d)(1)  (“Each  agency  that  maintains  a
system  of  records  shall  . . .  upon  request  by  any  individual  to  gain
access  to  his  record  or  to  any  information  pertaining  to  him  which  is
contained in the system, permit him and upon his request, a person of 
his  own  choosing  to  accompany  him,  to  review  the  record  and  have  a 
copy made of all or any portion thereof . . .”); Fair Credit Reporting Act,
15  U. S. C.  §1681j(a)(1)(A)  (“All  consumer  reporting  agencies  . . .  shall 
make all disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of this title once during
any 12-month period upon request of the consumer and without charge
to  the  consumer”);  Right  to  Financial  Privacy  Act  of  1978,  12  U. S. C.
§3404(c) (“The customer has the right . . . to obtain a copy of the record 
which the financial institution shall keep of all instances in which the 
customer’s  record  is  disclosed  to  a  Government  authority  pursuant  to
this  section,  including  the  identity  of  the  Government  authority  to
which  such  disclosure  is  made”);  Government  in  the  Sunshine  Act,  5 
U. S. C.  §552b(f )(2)  (“Copies  of  such  transcript,  or  minutes,  or  a  tran-
scription of such recording disclosing the identity of each speaker, shall 
be furnished to any person at the actual cost of duplication or transcrip-
tion”);  Cable  Act,  47  U. S. C.  §551(d)  (“A  cable  subscriber  shall  be
provided access to all personally identifiable information regarding that
subscriber  which  is  collected  and  maintained  by  a  cable  operator”); 
Family  Educational  Rights  and  Privacy  Act  of  1974,  20  U. S. C.
§1232g(a)(1)(A)  (“No  funds  shall  be  made  available  under  any  applica-
ble program to any educational agency or institution which has a policy 
of  denying,  or  which  effectively  prevents,  the  parents  of  students  who 
are  or  have  been  in  attendance  at  a  school  of  such  agency  or  at  such 
institution,  as  the  case  may  be,  the  right  to  inspect  and  review  the 
education  records  of  their  children. . . .  Each  educational  agency  or
institution shall establish appropriate procedures for the granting of a 
request by parents for access to the education records of their children 
within a reasonable period of time, but in no case more than forty-five
days after the request has been made”).