Bill Targeting Government Purchase of Personal Data Faces Law Enforcement Opposition

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics

A bipartisan coalition of Colorado lawmakers is advancing a bill that would prohibit police from purchasing personal consumer data without a warrant, setting up a clash with prosecutors who warn the measure could hamper criminal investigations.

House Bill 1037, sponsored by Reps. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, and Ken DeGraaf, R-Colorado Springs, and Sen. Lisa Cutter, D-Evergreen, would prohibit law enforcement and government entities from purchasing “certain personal data” from third parties without a warrant, except in emergencies.

The bill, which sponsors are calling the “Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act,” aims to prohibit personal data purchased from a third party from being used as evidence in court.

“Fundamentally, what we are saying in Colorado is that people have an expectation of privacy around their consumer-based data when they’re contracting with consumer entities,” Bacon said. “If law enforcement wants to buy it, that’s great, but if they want to use it against me, the information also needs to qualify for a warrant.”

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