This Bill Protects Your Car and Phone Data

A few years ago, with the legislature’s help, we passed the nation’s strongest privacy law to ensure that your digital data is protected by the need for law enforcement to obtain a warrant before accessing it.

However, this law provided a number of judicially recognized exceptions to the need for a warrant.

For example, if officers are chasing someone into a home, they don’t have to stop and get a warrant to enter that home. This is called a “hot pursuit” exception.

Another noteworthy exception is the “vehicle exception.” The courts have determined that if you are driving on a road, you don’t have the same expectation of privacy as you do in your home.

The problem is, as it pertains to your phone, it is collecting and storing your digital information at all times. The same is true of newer car models that are connected to WiFi, cloud storage, and so on. These cars are collecting and storing your digital data, most notably your location data.

Senate Bill 226, sponsored by Sen. Weiler, locks this down to ensure that your digital data that’s inside your car or cell phone is protected by the need to obtain a warrant before law enforcement agencies can access it.

Author

John Yelland

Director of Communications

Author

John Yelland

John studied TV and cinema production at Utah Valley University and obtained his Masters of Divinity at Regent University. He studied German in Berlin at the Goethe Institute. Before joining Libertas, John served as Director of Video Production at Apiary Fund and, prior to that, web producer for KUTV 2News. He lives in Kearns with his wife and son and enjoys writing and recording music.