Delaware General Assembly

Out of Committee 6/18/24

The General Assembly has ended, the current status is the final status.

5/14/24

Wilson-Anton

Sen. Gay

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO REVERSE KEYWORD SEARCHES AND COURT ORDERS.

Reverse keyword court orders enable the government to obtain technology search data without identifying any specific person as to which there is probable cause to believe they have committed or will imminently commit a crime. The profusion of electronic devices and apps in recent years has allowed recordation of numerous details of citizen’s everyday lives, that the government should not be permitted to collect and review at will. Such general searches allow the government to sweep in personal information about hundreds or thousands of people who are not suspected of having committed any crime. These searches are an invasion of privacy, have a potentially chilling effect on civil liberties, and sidestep requirements for individualized suspicion that are otherwise required for a lawful search. This Act would prohibit law enforcement and courts from requesting, issuing, or enforcing reverse-keyword court orders and reverse keyword requests. It also creates a private right of action for an individual whose personal information was obtained in violation of this Act and requires the suppression of evidence derived from an unlawful or reverse-keyword search.

N/A

N/A

Takes effect upon being signed into law

N/A

View HTML View PDF