Delaware House Bans Reverse‑Keyword Warrants, Limits Results to Five

Context Reverse‑keyword warrants allow law enforcement to demand from search engines or apps a list of everyone who entered a particular search term or location, without strictly needing probable cause tied to a specific suspect. Critics argue the tactic sweeps up innocent users and can deter people from searching for sensitive topics such as abortion care or gender‑affirming services. Delaware’s role as the incorporation capital for most U.S. tech companies means state officials could compel firms chartered there to honor such requests from other states, potentially exposing data nationwide and affecting users seeking reproductive health or gender‑affirming information across the nation.

Key Facts The House passed House Substitute 1 for House Bill 145 along party lines, with no Republican support. Rep. Madinah Wilson‑Anton warned that the growing use of reverse‑keyword warrants could chill online speech as people fear their searches being swept up in a digital dragnet. The bill caps results at five, mandates deletion of unrelated data, and explicitly bars courts from requesting, issuing, or enforcing reverse‑keyword orders.

What It Means If the Senate approves the bill, Delaware would join a small group of states banning reverse‑keyword warrants outright, establishing a clear privacy benchmark. State officials would today no longer force companies incorporated in Delaware to turn over bulk search data to out‑of‑state agencies, which could protect users across the country who rely on those platforms. The legislation also reflects increasing state‑level concern about surveillance tools that operate without individualized suspicion and may violate constitutional protections.

Watch for the Senate Judiciary Committee’s review, any proposed amendments to the five‑result cap or deletion rule, and whether the bill gains bipartisan traction in the upper chamber.