Eastern Wayne Today

Michigan state Sen. Peter J. Lucido (R-Shelby Township) was the driving force behind the recent approval of three bills aimed at safeguarding the privacy rights of individuals across the state.

“More and more, an individual’s private information and electronic data are under assault by those who would wish to do them harm, whether to steal an identity, defraud them of money or share personal and/or private information publicly,” Lucido, chair of the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, said in a press release. “These acts unfortunately extend beyond high-tech criminals, as law enforcement is also abusing its power to gain unauthorized access to this information to use against individuals. My bills would ensure that before law enforcement can access this information, they must first obtain a proper warrant.”

Senate Bill 114 mandates that law enforcement is required to obtain a search warrant prior to searching the premises of anyone who has objected to such actions, including in cases where another person who occupies the space consents to a warrantless search when the person in question is not physically present.

Michigan state Sen. Peter J. Lucido | https://www.senatorpetelucido.com/

The other two bills sponsored by Lucido, Senate Bill 341 and Senate Bill 342, would respectively require authorities to obtain a warrant to access a person’s digital information or data that is electronically stored and ban law officers from “obtaining, accessing or using real-time facial recognition technology or any information obtained from the use of real-time facial recognition technology to enforce the law.”

All three of the bills are now headed to the full floor of the senate for further debate and discussion.