Legal Question in Consumer Law in Iowa

Re: Needing to identify yourself because of ''store policy''

The Fourth Amendment protects you from unreasonable searches and seizures. A request for identification would likely not fall within the ambit of a search.

More importantly, though, the Fourth Amendement only restrains conduct by the state and federal government. It does not restrain conduct by a private party.

So, if you come onto my land and I say "as a condition of coming on my land you have to agree to a strip search," you have the right to decline (and not come on the land), but you can't assert the 4th Amendment as the rationale for objecting to my search of your person because I am a private party.

For the same reason you can't object to the grocer's request that you identify yourself as a condition of purchasing alcohol because you always have the right to refuse to provide the ID and walk out without buying it.