Michael Maharrey – On Sunday, two Montana laws went into effect that work together to ban warrantless collection of cell phone data in most situations. These laws not only increase privacy protections in the state, they also hinder one practical impact of federal surveillance programs.

Rep. Daniel Zolnikov sponsored both House Bill 147 (HB147) and House Bill 148 (HB148). Working together, these two bills require government agencies to get a warrant before obtaining data from electronic devices such as smart phones, computers and tablets in most situations.

HB147 prohibits any state or local government unit from obtaining the stored data of an electronic device without a warrant, unless it has the consent of the owner or authorized user of the device, or in accordance with judicially recognized exceptions to warrant requirements. The law will also allow police to access electronic data if the owner has already made the stored data public, or if there exists a possible life-threatening situation. Continue reading →