Missouri to Vote on Adding Phone, Email Privacy to State Constitution

Missouri voters in August will decide whether to add an electronic privacy provision to the state constitution, giving telecommunications the same protections that currently prevent police officers from searching through people’s paper documents, mailboxes, homes, and possessions without a warrant.

The Missouri House of Representatives voted 114-28 to put Amendment 9 (PDF) on the ballot. The measure would protect “all electronic communications and data from unreasonable searches and seizures,” and states that all warrants must give “probable cause, supported by written oath or affirmation.”

“It is essential to our freedoms and liberty that the laws of this state have provisions in place protecting the privacy of its citizens,” said Sen. Rob Schaaf (R-34), who sponsored the bill. “As technology continues to advance and concerns grow regarding government intrusion in the digital age, this proposed amendment would bring our state constitution into the 21st Century.”

Amendment 9 has overwhelming cross-party support from both politicians and activists. The ACLU of Missouri called it a “common sense measure,” stating that current privacy protections are “quaint and obsolete” in the face of new technologies and government power.

“Government surveillance programs have gone too far, sweeping in massive amounts of data on ordinary Americans, and giving law enforcement unfettered access to too many of our private communications. This violates the Constitution’s protections against unreasonable search and seizure,” the ACLU-MO said.

The measure also got support from groups that focus on opposing federal regulations. The Tenth Amendment Center noted that current laws on electronic privacy have not kept up with new technologies. “Our correspondence and other ‘papers’ don’t become less sensitive simply because we store them in electronic form,” Michael Maharrey, national communications director of the Tenth Amendment Center, said in a press release.

The bill has “national implication,” Maharrey said. “We have the potential to blanket the country with constitutional provisions specifically extending privacy protection to electronic information and data. This would ensure state-level respect for privacy rights and address a practical effect of federal spying, regardless of how things play out in Congress or in federal courts.”

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police must have warrants to search the cell phones of people they arrest.