Digital Privacy Protection Needed for 21st Century

Feb 12, 2020 by AFP

Grassroots group urges lawmakers to support digital privacy bill that protects 4^th Amendment rights of citizens’ digital information

CONCORD, NH – Americans for Prosperity-New Hampshire (AFP-NH) today urged lawmakers to support House Bill 1236, legislation that updates Granite Staters digital privacy protections for the 21^st century.

Americans for Prosperity-New Hampshire (AFP-NH) State Director Greg Moore issued the following statement:

“Our state’s privacy protections should keep up with our ever-increasing digitized lifestyle. This bill protects the Fourth Amendment rights of Granite Staters by ensuring the government must obtain a warrant to access digital information from citizens. We urge lawmakers to take this important step to protect our digital privacy.”

Background:

Recently, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Carpenter v. U.S., recognizing that digital data being passed through and held by a third party does not diminish an individual’s expectation of privacy. However, the ruling was limited – pertaining only to cell phone location information. House Bill 1236 is the logical and necessary next step to protecting a reasonable expectation of privacy for every Granite Stater.

In 2018, Granite Staters approved a constitutional amendment with 81% percent approval that adds a right to privacy to the state constitution.