Montana voted to amend its constitution to protect user data, setting a statewide precedent that will stop law enforcement from breaching user privacy without a warrant or consent.
Voters went to the ballot box in Montana on Tuesday and voted overwhelmingly for C-48, a measure proposed by the state’s legislature that would add language to the state’s constitution requiring police to get a search warrant before accessing a citizen’s electronic data or communications.
While police typically treat a user’s data as private, the amendment would ensure that law enforcement within Montana treats it as such. Supporters claim the amendment will ensure that law enforcement cannot access a user’s data without going through proper procedures. Opponents claimed the bill would complicate internet investigations.
“Everything we do is electronic now, including our finances, medical information, and conversations,” state Sen. Kenneth Bogner, the amendment’s sponsor, told the Washington Examiner. “As we put more and more on electronic devices, people are gonna want that data, including the government.”
The amendment “signifies a move away from a reactive approach to securing rights, and towards a proactive approach that protects fundamental rights in the context of the 21st century,” Tanner Avery, the communications director for the Montana-based Frontier Institute, told the Washington Examiner. “Enshrining privacy protections for digital communications in Montana’s Constitution will make it clear that regardless of technological change, Montanans’ privacy is protected from unwarranted government intrusion.” The institute was one of the leading organizations advocating the amendment.
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The bill received majority support in the legislature but was slammed by the Montana Association of Chiefs of Police.
The amendment’s passing makes the state the fourth to include language requiring warrants for digital data within its constitution, following Michigan, Missouri, and New Hampshire.
