The Privacy Protection Act of 1980 is legislation passed in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

that protects

journalists A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and newsrooms from search by government officials. The act protects "work products" and "documentary materials," which have been broadly interpreted. A

subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

must be ordered by the court to gain access to the information. The act stemmed in part from Zurcher v. Stanford Daily.

References

1980 in American law United States federal legislation articles needing infoboxes United States federal privacy legislation Journalism in the United States {{US-fed-statute-stub