Montana's cell phone privacy law ahead of the curve

Montana made history this spring after passing the first state law in the U.S. requiring state and local government agencies to obtain a probable-cause warrant before they can use a cell phone carrier’s records to establish a suspect’s location.

House Bill 603, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, passed both chambers of the Legislature in April and was signed into law by Gov. Steve Bullock on May 6. The law applies to cell phones, laptop computers, tablets and other electronic devices.

In recent months, several federal spying programs were exposed, leading to a public outcry for more comprehensive rights to privacy, so the Montana law is considered ahead of the trend. Zolnikov acknowledged that under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, federal law supersedes state law.

The bill includes exceptions to allow state and local government agencies in Montana to access personal electronic data when “there exists a possible life-threatening situation,” if a device has been stolen, or if the owner of a device provides law enforcement with consent to obtain electronic data.

Zolnikov said the idea for the bill was inspired by legislative momentum in Texas that failed because it was too watered down. Support for the Montana bill depended more on age than party affiliation, he noted.

The New York Times recently reported that more than a dozen other states have considered similar legislation this year. National groups that advocate for privacy rights hailed Montana’s new law, saying other states considering similar legislation now have an example to follow.