UtahH.B. 2612026 General SessionHouse

Electronic Information Privacy Act Amendments

Sponsored By: Jason B. Kyle (Republican)

Signed by Governor

Electronic PrivacyElectronic InformationPeace OfficersLaw Enforcement and Criminal Justice

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

6 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.

Stronger warrants for your device data

Beginning May 6, 2026, police must get a judge’s search warrant based on probable cause before they take, copy, use, or share your device location or data. The same warrant rule covers your subscriber and provider-held account records. The law also makes clear that “electronic information” includes device location, stored files, and transmitted data, so these protections apply to that data. Narrow exceptions still apply elsewhere in the law.

Notice and delete rules after searches

Beginning May 6, 2026, if police execute a warrant on your device or data, they must give you notice and a copy of the warrant within 90 days of getting the device or data. If the investigation ends first, notice must come within three days of the end. A court can delay notice for listed risks and extend delays in 30‑day steps; owners outside the U.S. do not have to be served. Police may not keep or share data the warrant did not cover and must destroy incidental data as soon as reasonably possible. A narrow exception allows use of nearby device communications if needed to meet the warrant’s goal.

Illegally obtained data kept out

Beginning May 6, 2026, if police get electronic data in violation of this law, courts can exclude it from criminal cases. Evidence found because of that illegal data is also excluded. This enforces the same protections as the U.S. and Utah Constitutions.

When police can get data without warrants

Beginning May 6, 2026, police can get device location without a warrant only in narrow cases: the owner reports the device stolen, the owner or user gives clear consent, a court‑recognized exception applies (not the automobile exception), the owner made the location public, or a provider shares it for an emergency or after inadvertent discovery tied to crimes. For stored or transmitted data, police can proceed without a warrant only with the owner’s consent, under a recognized exception (not the automobile exception), or when a provider shares data as allowed by federal law. Providers may also share subscriber records in limited cases, including with consent, emergencies with imminent risk (like death, serious injury, sexual abuse, live‑streamed exploitation, kidnapping, or human trafficking), inadvertent discovery of a felony or certain misdemeanors, or when the record is already public.

No end-runs and limited data sharing

Beginning May 6, 2026, agencies cannot ask or pay third parties to get electronic data in ways the agency is not allowed to do itself. Utah police may use data from federal, out‑of‑state, or foreign partners if those partners got it legally, if a written task‑force agreement exists, or if the partner used equivalent legal process when Utah asked. The law still allows sharing public records, using reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and access to data that is already public or legally available from aggregators.

Legal shield for compliant providers

Beginning May 6, 2026, providers and their staff are protected from lawsuits when they share data or give assistance in good‑faith reliance on this law. This includes help they give under the law’s limited warrantless disclosure rules.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Jason B. Kyle
Republican • House

Cosponsors

Todd Weiler
Republican • Senate

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 119 • No: 5

Senate vote • 3/6/2026

Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension

Yes: 22 • No: 5

House vote • 2/25/2026

Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation

Yes: 4 • No: 0

House vote • 2/19/2026

House/ floor amendment

Yes: 0 • No: 0

House vote • 2/19/2026

House/ passed 3rd reading

Yes: 71 • No: 0

House vote • 2/11/2026

House Comm - Favorable Recommendation

Yes: 11 • No: 0