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Committee advances bill to restrict 'reverse keyword' warrants, adopts compromise limits
Summary
House Substitute 1 for HB 145, which would limit or prohibit reverse keyword warrants that compel tech firms to return accounts matching a search term, was released from committee after sponsor, DOJ, law enforcement and civil-liberties witnesses debated carve-outs, a five-hit limit and suppression remedies.
The Delaware House Judiciary Committee on May 6 released House Substitute 1 for HB 145, a bill that would restrict the use of "reverse keyword" warrants — orders that require companies to return accounts or user identifiers tied to a particular search term or address over a time period.
Representative Wilson Anton, the bill sponsor, told the committee that reverse keyword warrants sweep an "unspecified and unlimited number of people" into investigations and risk chilling online speech. She offered examples of how the tool could capture casual searches — from a student researching cyanide to people searching an address for legitimate reasons — and said the substitute narrows the tool by creating exemptions and limiting returns in many cases.
Sponsor remarks emphasized a…
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