If this law passes, soon every corrupt local cop in the country could track your calls just like the NSA.

The MA Legislature is considering a bill that would give local cops and prosecutors the right to listen in on the phone calls of people suspected of even minor offenses like simple marijuana possession. Even worse, it allows wiretaps at phone company "switching stations," giving local law enforcement direct, NSA-style access to the phone records of millions of people who have never been suspected of a crime.

Tell the MA Legislature: don't give local police the same spying powers as the NSA!

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If Massachusetts does this, other states will follow. Soon every local cop in the country knows who you call.

Right now, Massachusetts has some of the best electronic privacy protections, and current laws only allow the Government to tap your phone if they suspsect you of a violent or very serious crime. The proposed changes, which are being pushed for by law enforcement, would drastically expand the law to allow for wiretaps relating to nearly ANY drug or gun-related offense. The result is that local police will be spying on a LOT more people.

So how will they get all that info? The bill gives law enforcement direct access to phone company switching stations. So not only can they tap your cell phone, but if you even share a phone company with ANYONE suspected of a huge range of crimes, your call data could get swept up in their monitoring.

The revelations about the Federal Government and the NSA spying on all Americans is disturbing enough, but if this bill passes, low-level law enforcement agents would be able to listen in on our lives through unconstitutional "general wiretaps." It's an outrage that the MA Legislature is even considering this bill at a time when crime is dropping and the public is demanding answers about government surveillance.

We are working with a broad coalition of groups to stop this bill including the ACLU of Massachusetts, Digital Fourth, the EFF, Demand Progress, and the Bill of Rights Defense Committee. Please share so we can win this and set a strong precedent in support of privacy and freedom.