peterm@sumax.seattleu.edu (Peter Marshall) (02/08/91)
A pair of bills recently introduced in the Washington Legislature, ostensibly deal with law enforcement use of pen registers and trap-and-trace devices. These surveillance tools basically deal with the transaction-generated information(TGI)related to the communication itself; the first relative to outgoing, and the second, relative to incoming calls. The proposed legislation, however, is designed to void a key state Supreme Court decision representing an important part of the communications privacy protection now available in the state. As these bills would essentially broaden use of these surveillance tools with only minimal standards and minimal, if any, consent required, the proposals are even more disturbing when viewed in terms of their apparent application to what they define as "electronic communications," etc. These measures define "electronic communication service," for example, as "a service that provides to its users the ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications." An "electronic communications system" is "a...facility for the transmission of electronic communications, and computer facilities or related electronic equipment for the electronic storage of such communications." The sponsor of the Senate version of the bill chairs the Senate Law & Justice Committee and has been a longtime US West employee. SB5126 is out of committee and appears headed for the Senate floor, while HB1351 had its first committee hearing yesterday. Peter Marshall