HB 145: A Privacy-Protecting Bill that Reinforces the Fourth Amendment in the Digital Age
Center for Economic & Fiscal Policy
July 22, 2025
Although Delaware's regular legislative session ended on June 30, House Bill 145 (HB 145), a privacy-protecting bill, remains active. This is a crucial time for Delawareans to speak up-lawmakers are continuing to review bills, meeting with constituents, and preparing for the next session.
It doesn't take a constitutional scholar to recognize the risk of letting government agencies collect data on thousands of innocent people just because someone, somewhere, might have done something wrong. Our nation's founders understood the dangers of broad and suspicionless searches-that's why they drafted the Fourth Amendment (4th Amendment).
But today's digital world has outpaced our traditional understanding of privacy. HB 145 is the kind of update needed to ensure our privacy rights keep pace.
What HB 145 Stops: Reverse-Keyword and Reverse-Location Warrants
House Bill 145 bans "reverse-location" (also known as geofence) and "reverse-keyword" searches-fancy terms for digital fishing expeditions. With a reverse-location warrant, police request data from tech companies on everyone in a specific area at a particular time. Reverse-keyword warrants do the same based on search terms that you might use in Google. So instead of naming a suspect, the government casts a wide data net and filters for someone later. It's basically the Fourth Amendment's nightmare.
The Alarming Trend: Use of These Warrants Is Surging
This isn't theoretical: Google received 982 geofence warrants in 2018, which exploded to 11,554 by 2020?according to a 2021 report from TechCrunch. That's more than an 11-fold increase, and similar explosive growth occurred across states-federal usage was up 1,171%, with state increases ranging from 813% to over 5,000%, according to a report by the ACLU. And reverse-keyword warrants-though less transparent in number-are already in use and raising red flags, according to Tech Policy Press. These aren't one-off tools-they're fast becoming the go-to digital dragnet.
Yes, It Catches Criminals-But at What Cost?
Supporters say this tech helps catch bad actors, like the Colorado arson case, where a reverse-keyword warrant led to the arrest of teens accused of setting a deadly fire, according to Wired magazine. I would agree. This is a powerful tool for law enforcement. But when you treat everyone who happened to be nearby-or every person who typed a word into a search engine-as a potential suspect, you have thrown out the presumption of innocence. Is it worth sweeping up grandma's location stamps or college students' midnight curiosity searches?
HB 145: A Balanced Approach to Protect Privacy
HB 145 doesn't hobble law enforcement-it simply requires them to meet traditional standards: probable cause and specificity in warrants. Investigators can still get data tied to a known suspect, with a court-approved warrant.
The Caesar Rodney Institute supports HB 145 as a common-sense reform that strengthens privacy protections and reinforces the idea that personal privacy isn't a luxury-it's a right.
Yes, some will argue, "Let's keep every tool on the shelf-just in case." But history shows that unchecked government power leads to overreach-and the data presented here reflects that concern.
Today, it may be burglary scenes. Tomorrow, it could be political rallies, protest marches, or religious gatherings. The founding generation rejected general warrants for a reason-seizing digital data based on a keyword or location is no less invasive than rummaging through someone's trunk or home.
Why Awareness of HB 145 Matters Now
Delaware can have safe streets and freedom. We can give law enforcement the tools they need without handing them a blank check on our private data. HB?145 draws that line-and it does so responsibly, constitutionally, and with a nod to the state's tradition of liberty.
Now is the perfect time to learn more about HB 145 and how it could affect digital privacy in Delaware. Lawmakers are still planning and reviewing legislation, and many are open to hearing from constituents. Raising awareness about this bill can help ensure that privacy remains a top priority in the next session.