Maine Lawmakers Demand Warrants for Cell Phone Tracking

Maine officials may soon be required to obtain a warrant before placing surveillance on cell phones.

State lawmakers voted earlier last week on a bill that would make it illegal for law enforcement to monitor cell phone activity without first obtaining a warrant. If this piece of legislation is passed, Maine would become the first state in the nation to make it mandatory for police to get a search warrant before tracing electronic, GPS-enabled devices.

In addition, the proposed bill requires law enforcement officials to give notification to the person they are surveilling within three days of tracking their activity. That is unless it becomes absolutely necessary to the case that surveillance information not be released.

Those that oppose the bill say that being forced to obtain a warrant will interfere with the progress of investigations. Yet, supporters agree that it has become necessary to put a law into place that supersedes the old-fashioned ways of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986.

However, even though the Senate is in strong support of the bill, there is some speculation that if lawmakers cannot secure the funding for the bill’s fiscal note that it may crumble at the very end. Still, supporters remain optimistic that the bill is moving in the right direction for establishing appropriate privacy protections for citizens.