Soon to be no longer operative:
It's been a long battle, and no one knew whether the Governor would sign the legislation or not.
The ACLU, with support from various California tech companies and privacy organizations had been pushing the bill all through the legislative session. It passed both Houses of the Legislature with overwhelming support, but, as is typical, law enforcement groups were opposed.
Hopefully this will catalyze moves around the country to pass similar - and even stronger - legislation, putting back some of the non-shredded privacy rights We The People are supposed to have.
SB 178, Leno. Privacy: electronic communications: search warrant.
(1) Existing law provides that a search warrant may only be issued upon probable cause, supported by affidavit, naming or describing the person to be searched or searched for, and particularly describing the property, thing, or things and the place to be searched...
This bill would prohibit a government entity from compelling the production of or access to electronic communication information or electronic device information, as defined, without a search warrant, wiretap order, order for electronic reader records, or subpoena issued pursuant under specified conditions, except for emergency situations, as defined. The bill would also specify the conditions under which a government entity may access electronic device information by means of physical interaction or electronic communication with the device, such as pursuant to a search warrant, wiretap order, or consent of the owner of the device...
The bill would require a search warrant for electronic information to describe with particularity the information to be seized and would impose other conditions on the use of the search warrant or wiretap order and the information obtained, including retention, sealing, and disclosure...
The bill would provide that any person in a trial, hearing, or proceeding may move to suppress any electronic information obtained or retained in violation of its provisions, according to specified procedures...
3:19 PM PT: Statement by Senator Leno, the Bill's Author:
Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco)
For too long, California’s digital privacy laws have been stuck in the Dark Ages, leaving our personal emails, text messages, photos and smartphones increasingly vulnerable to warrantless searches. That ends today with the Governor’s signature of CalECPA, a carefully crafted law that protects personal information of all Californians. The bill also ensures that law enforcement officials have the tools they need to continue to fight crime in the digital age.
3:21 PM PT: Statement from the Electronic Frontier Foundation:
... EFF, along with the ACLU and the California Newspaper Publishers Association, sponsored the bill from the very beginning, recognizing how the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure is inherently tied to freedom of speech. Tech corporations also recognized that, following two years of government spying scandals, consumers have lost trust in the companies' ability to protect their digital information. In response, Silicon Valley's major players, including Adobe, Apple, Facebook, LinkedIn, Dropbox, Google, and Twitter, all threw their support behind the bill...
CalECPA's passage marks a significant milestone in the campaign to update computer privacy laws, which have been stuck in the 1980s. We hope that California's success will lend momentum to the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act...
3:24 PM PT: A bit more about what the bill does, from the EFF
CalECPA protects Californians by requiring a warrant for digital records, including emails and texts, as well as a user's geographical location. These protections apply not only to your devices, but to online services that store your data. Only two other states have so far offered these protections: Maine and Utah.
https://www.eff.org/...
3:45 PM PT: More good news: