Internet Subpoenas

ACLU lobbying (see the ACLU's memo) helped to decisively kill one of the most dangerous bills of the session, a pet proposal of the State Police to give law enforcement broad authority to secretly obtain subscriber information, including bank and credit card numbers, from Internet service providers without a warrant. The bill has regularly passed the Senate in past years, only to die in the House, but this year it seemed poised for approval by both Houses. But after the ACLU publicized the fact that the bill was so broadly worded it would allow police access to telephone customer calling records – the same information that had created a scandal at the federal level with revelations about telephone company collaboration with the National Security Agency – an uproar ensued. The result: the House quickly shelved the bill and encouraged all parties to try to work out compromise language for next session.