Texas state senators from the Red River to the Rio Grande Valley say law enforcement should seek a warrant to get location tracking information from cell-phone carriers. Okay, really it's just two state senators so far: State Sen. Craig Estes in the final week of bill filing dropped SB 1088 requiring law enforcement to get a warrant to gather cell-phone location data. The bill is essentially similar to Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa's SB 786 and state Rep. Bryan Hughes' HB 1608 except that it does not include the annual public reporting in those bills.Noted a blog post from the Texas Electronic Privacy Coalition, "That both Republican and Democratic Texas state senators filed legislation to require a warrant for cell-phone location orders speaks volumes about the developing bipartisan consensus that location privacy deserves protection." Coupled with HB 3164 by Stickland requiring a warrant for emails older than 180 days (see prior Grits coverage), the Legislature this session will consider legislation that would significantly bolster Texans' Fourth Amendment rights in the digital age. Hughes' HB 1608 has so far garnered 69 joint and co-authors, with more likely to sign on next week, so there exists significant bipartisan support for the warrant requirement in both chambers. If these bills pass, it would put the Lone Star State at the forefront of electronic privacy protections nationally.
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