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By Karen J. Kiley, Clinical Fellow, Speech, Privacy, & Technology Project, ACLU Modern technology makes our lives more convenient, and our deaths more complicated. Today when we die we leave behind not just physical belongings but also a vast amount of electronic “belongings.” Photos are no longer printed in an album on a shelf; but uploaded and shared. Diaries are not handwritten journals anymore; but a series of blogs or tweets. Salacious love letters aren’t penned on paper and burned or thrown away; but sent via email or text where fleeting feelings can be preserved forever.

We’re wrapping up two committee weeks at the Capitol that saw a lot of action around civil rights and civil liberties. The legislature will now break for a week and come back to start the formal session on March 2. Here’s what you need to know to get prepared. I’ve written about how body cameras are a great oversight mechanism that reduces the use of force incident and citizen complaints alike. We’ve sent suggestions to local and state policy makers alike suggesting some smart ways to protect privacy without frustrating the oversight purpose of the cameras. The Senate, however, has taken the promise of body cameras and turned it on its head by pursuing broad exemptions from the public record laws for the resulting footage.