14 DAY TRIAL // The California Senate passed a new bill that will require all law enforcement agencies to request a warrant before searching a person's electronic devices. This includes smartphones, tablets, laptops, workstations, external hard-drives, servers, routers, car GPSs, and any other device that may permanently or temporarily store user information.
According to the LA Times, the California Senate approved the bill unanimously and was the fruitful effort of a bipartisan push from Democrat Sen. Mark Leno (San Francisco), and Republican Sen. Joel Anderson (San Diego).
Silicon Valley lobbying pays off
The SB 178 bill was also backed by all major Silicon Valley companies, with the likes of Google and Apple spearheading the effort in protecting both theirs and their users' privacy.
And by "theirs" we mean their data centers, full of electronic devices that store "the users" data to which all law enforcements agencies will need a warrant before ever touching again.
This puts the companies in the clear when it comes to releasing personal user information, and will provide a legal background and a set of well-regulated procedures for providing access to any user details.
Law enforcement agencies weren't too pleased
The bill was unsuccessfully opposed by a coalition law enforcement agencies: California District Attorneys Assn., the California Police Chiefs Assn. and the California State Sheriffs Assn.
Their counterarguments were that the new bill will hamper the investigatory process, and this is just another case of over-bureaucratization.
The response from Sen. Leno was short and to the point, "What the bill does is brings our state statute into the 21st century to catch up with technology with regards to privacy."
The SB 178 bill doesn't entirely prevent police from searching electronic devices, this still being possible if the owner gives his permission, or in situations of imminent danger.