GUEST OPINIONS

Digital privacy will be issue again in 2017

Sen. Mary Moe

In your recent editorial on privacy legislation this session, the Tribune seemed to accept at face value a statement of Rep. Daniel Zolnikov's. Noting that all Senate Democrats voted against House Bill 444, he expressed disappointment at "seeing the politics play out."

HB 444 didn't die on a party-line vote. The fact is that in a 50-member Senate, with a 29-member Republican majority, HB 444 garnered only 15 votes. I can't speak for the other 34 Democrats and Republicans who opposed HB 444, but I can tell you why I did.

It wasn't because of the grave concerns expressed by law enforcement, county attorneys and the Attorney General's Office, although those concerns were definitely expressed. It wasn't because of any pressure I received from within my own party or from my constituents.

As much as I appreciated Zolnikov's effort to protect the privacy of our digital information and communications, I voted against HB 444 for two reasons. I thought some amendments were needed to make its intent and enforcement clear. Unfortunately, the sponsor declared that if the bill were amended by the Senate, he would get the amendments removed when the bill went back to the House. Successful legislation requires a more collaborative approach.

The main reason I thought HB 444 was premature, though, is that the issues surrounding our digital communications and records are broader than the law enforcement issues addressed by that bill. Beyond privacy, property issues also come into play.

One example is the difficulty surviving spouses have in gaining access to the electronic records of a deceased loved one, an issue addressed by Sen. Mary McNally's Senate Bill 266. After unanimous votes in the Senate, SB 266 died in the House Judiciary Committee. All Republicans on the committee voted against it, but that vote, too, was not a party-line vote.

Rather than chip away at these issues piecemeal, I think the Legislature should step back and look at the big picture of this new and ever-evolving area of law. That's why I carried Rep. Bryce Bennett's House Joint Resolution 21, establishing one such study, to the Senate floor. It passed, 34-15, with strong bipartisan support.

Rep. Zolnikov was a co-sponsor of HJ 21. I look forward to working with him to arrive at the holistic framework and collaborative approach that will help bills like HB 444 and SB 266 pass next session.

Mary Sheehy Moe is a first-term Democratic state senator from Great Falls.