In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court today ruled that police need search warrants to search cellphones. Congresswoman Suzan DelBene, who represents Kirkland, issued the following statement:

“Technology has changed the way we live, communicate and do business, but what should not change is our basic liberties and protections under the Constitution. Today’s decision by the Supreme Court requiring a warrant standard for cellphone searches is a significant step forward for privacy rights. It’s a landmark decision that affirms a privacy protection for something that has become ubiquitous in our day to day lives—a device that holds, as the Court put it, ‘the privacies of our life.’

“This decision should also serve as a call to action for Congress to reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act by taking up legislation that I’ve cosponsored to create a warrant standard for our emails in the cloud. In the digital age, our laws remain woefully outdated and I look forward to working with my colleagues in moving forward on this important legislation.”