New Massachusetts Law Protects Personal Transit Data From Warrantless Searches
The Massachusetts Legislature has enacted a new law that prevents Massachusetts transit authorities from disclosing personal information related to individuals' transit system use for non-transit purposes and requires police obtain a search warrant before accessing personal data collected by the authorities. The law resolves many of the issues raised in Commonwealth v. Zachery, a case pending before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in which the government obtained, without a warrant, location data generated by the defendant's use of a Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority transit card. EPIC filed an amicus brief in the case. EPIC argued that disclosure of data collected by the transit authority should be limited to the purposes for which it was collected. EPIC further stated that "if the government seeks to access Charlie Card data for investigative purposes, it must do so with a warrant." The new law adopts both the disclosure limitation and warrant requirement that EPIC advocated for in its amicus brief to the Court.
January 20, 2021| Share:
