EFF proudly joins ACLU California Action and If/When/How to co-sponsor new California legislation to protect people seeking abortion and gender-affirming care from dragnet-style digital surveillance. A coalition of more than 25 reproductive justice, civil liberties, and privacy groups are supporting the bill at introduction.
Stop All Digital Dragnet Surveillance of Vulnerable People
Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) on Monday introduced AB 793, a bill to prevent unconstitutional searches of people's data.
“With states across the country passing anti-abortion and anti-trans legislation, it’s vital that California shore up our protections against digital tracking of vulnerable people seeking healthcare,” Bonta said. “This legislation will put a stop to unconstitutional ‘reverse warrants’ – preserving our digital privacy and protecting Californians’ right to live life on our own terms.”
AB 793 targets a type of dragnet surveillance that can compel tech companies to search their records and reveal the identities of all people who have driven down a certain street or looked up a particular keyword online. These demands, known as “reverse demands”, “geofence warrants,” or “keyword warrants,” enable local law enforcement in states across the country to request the names and identities of all people whose digital data shows they’ve spent time near a California abortion clinic or searched for information about gender-affirming care online.
Between 2018 and 2020, Google alone received more than 5,700 reverse demands from states that now have anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ legislation on the books. As a worldwide leader in technology and innovation, California is uniquely positioned to divest from digital surveillance that would target people for having an abortion or seeking reproductive and gender-affirming care.
With the introduction of AB 793, California joins the vanguard of states that have taken action to protect people from reverse warrants, including New York, Massachusetts, and Missouri. The California Assembly will hear the bill sometime in March.
You can read more about AB 793 on Bonta’s website, and Californians can act now to urge their lawmakers to support the bill.
Stop All Digital Dragnet Surveillance of Vulnerable People
