Stop the Massachusetts Wiretapping Bill

After recent revelations about NSA spying, the last thing we need is expanded wiretapping powers in Massachusetts.

A new bill in Massachusetts (S.654/H.3261) will expand the state's wiretapping laws, allowing law enforcement to eavesdrop on individuals suspected of committing even minor offenses. The bill also lets the government engage in these wiretaps for 30-day periods of time, twice as long as the current standard—preventing courts from providing adequate oversight.

Sign this petition and urge your lawmakers to oppose this unnecessary expansion of eavesdropping powers.

This petition is a joint initiative of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and our partners at the ACLU of Massachusetts, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Demand Progress, Digital Fourth, and Fight for the Future. For privacy reasons, however, no data entered into this form will be shared with our partner organizations.

We, the undersigned, call on the Massachusetts legislature to reject proposals to expand government wiretap powers. Listening in on phone calls and electronic communication poses "grave dangers to the privacy of all citizens of the commonwealth," in the words of our existing law. However, pending legislation would ignore that wise warning. It would permit wiretapping not just in connection with organized crime, or even for serious, violent crimes, but for a wide variety of offenses down to simple drug possession and other less serious offenses. Crime has fallen substantially, but electronic surveillance is on the rise. Now is not the time to hand our government broader powers to eavesdrop on us. We urge you to oppose S.654/H.3261, An Act Updating the Wire Interception Law.

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