While Congress Plays Politics, This State Just Protected Your Rights for Real
This state legislation closes a loophole that government agencies use to collect your data without a warrant. When will the rest of the nation follow suit?
Montana has just passed a law that would prohibit state agencies from obtaining residents’ data without a warrant, a move that will protect property rights from the prying eyes of the government. The legislation closes a critical loophole used by state and federal agencies to skirt the Fourth Amendment.
The new legislation revises state and local authority related to the search and seizure of electronic communications and data stored on electronic devices. It further establishes that a governmental entity may not access these materials without first obtaining a valid search warrant, except in limited circumstances. It also restricts the use of improperly obtained electronic data as evidence in court proceedings.
“A governmental entity may not obtain the stored data of an electronic device without a valid search warrant,” the bill reads. To ensure transparency, the bill also provides that “a person or entity served with a request issued by a governmental entity may disclose the request to any other person.”
Additional protections are reinforced with the provision: “electronic communications and related material may only be obtained by a governmental entity with a search warrant based on probable cause.” Lastly, it specifies that “no other legal process or authority shall substitute for a search warrant” in accessing such data.
The Constitution forbids government law enforcement agencies from accessing people’s electronic data without a warrant. But when has the Constitution ever stopped the government from violating our rights? Since the state cannot directly access this data, it has resorted to simply purchasing it from private corporations that have this information.
Tech companies that people use on a regular basis have a virtual treasure trove of data our sneaky government would love to possess — whether it belongs to someone suspected of a crime or if they just want to keep the data for later use. Since the government is not the entity collecting the data, it can still subvert our rights to reasonable searches and seizures.
So, can we get this in the rest of the country, please?
Several states have already introduced similar legislation — but not nearly enough. There have been two bills introduced at the federal level to protect our Fourth Amendment rights as well.
The American Privacy Rights Act of 2024 (HR 8818), introduced in 2024, is a sweeping federal privacy bill that aims to curb the unchecked sale and use of personal data by both private and public agencies. If our lawmakers ever get bored with focusing on silly initiatives like renaming the Gulf of Mexico and pass this bill, it will establish that state entities collecting or processing data through third-party service providers must adhere to the same restrictions placed on private “covered entities.”
The proposed legislation further regulates the data broker industry by requiring public registration, imposing transparency requirements, and providing individuals with the option to opt out of data collection and request the deletion of their information.
HR 4639, also known as the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act, is a bipartisan bill that would prevent the state from obtaining “covered customer or subscriber records” or “illegitimately obtained information” in exchange for anything of value. In English, this means the government can’t just purchase data collected from online accounts, electronic devices, and internet service providers.
This bill would also disallow the use of data collected in violation of the law to be used in legal proceedings. It would also establish the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as the sole legal authority through which federal agencies can obtain digital information such as web browsing history, search history, and location data.
Here’s a question: Why haven’t our lawmakers taken up important bills such as these? I joked about the Gulf of Mexico thing, but it seems Congress is far more concerned with meaningless and performative tripe that it is with protecting our rights.
Even now, the legislature is wrapped up in President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that ostensibly aims to reduce government spending while slashing taxes, among other provisions. We already know this isn’t going to happen in any meaningful way. Yet, they continue distracting us with political theater.
The reason they do this is that they know they will get away with it.
Just take a look at the performance our lawmakers will put on this week as they pretend to debate the details of the bill, which supposedly has the totality of Trump’s agenda in it. Watch as they argue the merits of codifying cuts the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has highlighted. They are already erecting the circus tent on Capitol Hill as you read this.
By the end of the week, Congress will have accomplished exactly nothing for the American people — especially when it comes to shrinking and limiting the size and scope of the federal government. But at least we are in for some marvelous sound bites from our vaunted representatives, right?