Privacy is a prerequisite to a free and prosperous society

Montanans have always cherished independence and individual rights. The Fourth Amendment’s provisions against unreasonable searches and seizures have protected our due process and private property rights for hundreds of years, and prohibited warrantless invasions of our privacy.

Unfortunately, these rights have been eroded in the digital age. If a police officer or court representative broke into your house and rifled through your personal papers kept in a file cabinet or locked safe without your permission or a warrant, would that be OK? Of course not.

That scenario is so un-American that it’s hard to picture in your mind. However, there are currently very few protections against the government doing that exact thing to information stored on your cell phone or on your e-mail provider’s servers.

Make no mistake — e-mails and text messages are today’s “papers and effects,” and we should expect the same level of protection for them that we expect for paper documents sitting in our locked houses. That’s why I have introduced several bills this legislative session to protect our due process, property and privacy rights when it comes to digital technology.

The most important of those bills is House Bill 444. It would require any branch of state or local government to get a warrant before forcing your e-mail provider or cloud storage company to share your e-mails, voicemails or other private electronic information. HB 444 would also require the government to tell you when it has collected your private information from these providers.

Another bill, HB 445, would create similar protections for the information stored directly on our physical electronic devices, such as cell phones, tablets and computers.

Because of the extreme dysfunction of Washington, D.C., Congress has failed to protect our privacy and has allowed federal agencies like the NSA to run amok. The Supreme Court has ruled on a few of these important issues, but the justices themselves have asked Congress and state legislatures to get involved because the rapid evolution of technology outpaces the court system.

Privacy is a prerequisite for all of our other constitutional rights. If we were unable to speak or assemble without the government listening in or tracking our every movement, we would self-censor our speech and activities, effectively dismantling the First Amendment.

Our state’s economy would also benefit from increased privacy protections. High-tech jobs in Montana are growing eight times faster than any other, and providing double the salary. Tech industries are estimated to bring $35 million of investments into the state just this year.

Yet tech companies are increasingly worried about broad government access to user data. Across the nation, tech companies are already moving their data centers overseas to countries that can guarantee privacy and security protections. That’s why many tech companies large and small support warrant protection for e-mail and other private content.

We should look for ways to continue to draw these good jobs to Montana. Passing HB 444 would clearly demonstrate that Montana takes the privacy of Internet and cloud users seriously, and would encourage more high-tech investment here. Google, ACLU Montana, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology, FreedomWorks and 23 other leading technology and privacy groups have formally endorsed HB 444. The importance of this legislation cannot be overstated.

House bills 444 and 445 provide an opportunity for Montana to continue leading the nation in digital privacy. We can protect our private property rights to our electronic communications, ensure due process is maintained when accessing our data, and encourage good-paying, sustainable economic development all in one fell swoop.

Montana is well-suited to meet this challenge and I hope you will join me in calling on the legislature to pass these important bills.

Rep. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, represents House District 45.