Maine could soon become the first state requiring law enforcement to obtain a warrant before monitoring its citizens’ cell phone signals, a development hailed by the American Civil Liberties Union as a “historic” win for privacy.
The bill, which sailed through the state House of Representatives on a 113-28 vote last week, allows police to forgo the process of obtaining a warrant if it can “prove that secrecy is necessary” in sensitive cases. In virtually all other cases, the proposal would require that law enforcement agencies obtain a warrant and notify a citizen within three days if the individual is being tracked.
In cases where secrecy is required, police can delay the notification up to 180 days while they conduct an investigation into the person’s movements.
Local and state law enforcement generally oppose the bill, claiming that it would impede sensitive investigations. According to the Bangor Daily News, Democratic Rep. Charles Priest, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, claimed that the bill would depart from well-established policy.
“This goes against long-standing federal and state practices,” Priest said during floor debate Wednesday evening. “When law enforcement begins an investigation, they might not have enough information for a warrant. There is no need for this bill.”
Conversely, Democratic Rep. Michael Carey said the proposal is necessary to uphold citizens’ privacy.
“This information is powerful,” said Carey. “The fact it’s powerful increases the value of privacy so much more. Absent a warrant, such information is not the business of government.”
The success of the privacy bill hinges upon action by the state Senate, which previously voted 20-15 to support the bill. The Senate will take up final action on the bill in the coming days, according to the Daily News. One final sticking point is the bill’s cost of $234,000 over two years. Lawmakers must find a source of funding before the bill can become law, the Daily News reported. At the end of 2012, the state of Maine was running a $1 billion deficit.
Across the nation, cell phone data has long been available to law enforcement, allowing them to track cell phone signals without a warrant. In an August 2011 inquiry, 35 ACLU affiliates filed 381 requests with local law enforcement agencies in 32 states, seeking a better picture of how law enforcement use this data.
“Virtually all of the roughly 250 police departments that responded to our request said they track cell phones, only a tiny minority reported consistently obtaining a warrant and demonstrating probable cause to do so,” the ACLU reports.
Despite facing funding obstacles, the ACLU has already heralded the proposal as “historic,” announcing in a blog post Wednesday that it “brings us one step closer to putting necessary privacy protections in place while allowing the police to protect our communities.”