Police need a warrant to rifle through papers in your desk drawer, so the same should go for sensitive digital data like email, text messages, location history and stored documents of all kinds. Tell your assemblymember to support S.B. 178 (text of bill), the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (CalECPA), to protect our private digital lives from government overreach.
California’s electronic privacy laws were written in, and for, the digital ecosystem of the 1970s and 80s. CalECPA is a major upgrade, critically important and long overdue.
While the phones in our pockets have slimmed over the years, the amount of information contained in these devices has grown from a few contacts to enough personal documents to fill an office full of file cabinets. We also store gigabytes of information online through social media, email, and cloud services. Not surprisingly, our laws have failed to keep up with these technological advances.
CalECPA’s essential change is this: The government would be required to obtain a warrant before accessing a person’s digital information, whether by searching a device or gaining access through an online service provider. For situations when police don’t have time to get a warrant to prevent loss of life or bodily injury, the bill includes an emergency exception that is coupled with meaningful accountability requirements.
S.B. 178 has already passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support. But now we need a strong vote in the Assembly and the Governor’s signature. The First Amendment Coalition urges you to send your Assemblymember an email urging a yes vote on S.B. 178 when it comes to the floor.
Send your “vote YES on AB 178” email here.
This map tells you who your Assemblymember is.
–Peter Scheer
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