HB 145 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO REVERSE LOCATION AND REVERSE KEYWORD SEARCHES AND COURT ORDERS.

§ 778 of this title.

k.

Kidnapping in the second degree;

§ 783 of this title.

l.

Kidnapping in the first degree;

§ 784 of this title.

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05/19/202604/14/2026 11:3711:40 AM m.(2) “Government entity” means any department or agency of the State or any political subdivision thereof, or any individual acting for or on behalf of the State or a political subdivision thereof.

Trafficking(3) “Reverse-keyword court order” means any court order, including a search warrant or subpoena, compelling the disclosure of anrecords individual,or forcedinformation laboridentifying andany sexualunnamed servitude;persons, by name or other unique identifier, who electronically searched for a particular word, phrase, or website, or who visited a particular website through a link generated by such a search, regardless of whether or not the order is limited to a specific geographic area or time frame.

§(4) 787“Reverse-keyword request” means any request, in the absence of thisa title.court order, by any government entity for the voluntary provision of records or information identifying any unnamed persons, by name or other unique identifier, who electronically searched for a particular word, phrase, or website, or who visited a particular website through a link generated by such a search, regardless of whether or not the request is limited to a specific geographic area or time frame.

n.A “reverse-keyword request” includes an offer to purchase such records or information.

Arson(5) in“Search hit” means a search result that identifies an individual device location or keyword entry that, upon querying of a database that is the firstsubject degree;of a reverse-keyword court order, precisely matches the criteria of the court order’s search query.

§(b) 803Reverse-keyword ofcourt thisorders title.prohibited.

o.(1) A government entity may not seek, from any court, a reverse-keyword court order.

Burglary(2) inA thegovernment firstentity degree;may not seek, secure, obtain, borrow, purchase, or review any information or data obtained through a reverse-keyword court order.

§(3) 826No court of this title.State may issue a reverse-keyword court order.

p.(4) No court or government entity of the State or a political subdivision thereof, may support, assist, or enforce a reverse-keyword court order issued by the State of Delaware or a political subdivision thereof, or any other state or a political subdivision thereof, including the domestication of any such court order.

Robbery(c) inReverse-keyword therequests firstprohibited. degree;

§(1) 832A ofgovernment thisentity title.may not make a reverse-keyword request.

q.(2) A government entity may not seek, secure, obtain, borrow, purchase, or review any information or data obtained through a reverse-keyword request.

Extortion;(d) Notwithstanding the prohibition in subsection (b) of this section, a government entity may seek, and a court may grant, a reverse-keyword court order in the investigation of a class A violent felony, subject to all of the following conditions:

§ 846 of this title.

r.

Sexual exploitation of a child;

§ 1108 of this title.

s.

Dealing in child pornography;

§ 1109 of this title.

t.

Sexual solicitation of a child;

§ 1112A of this title.

u.

Promoting sexual solicitation of a child;

§ 1112B of this title.

v.

Stalking;

§ 1312 of this title.

x.

Bombs, incendiary devices, Molotov cocktails and explosive devices;

§ 1338 of this title.

y.

Adulteration;

§ 1339 of this title.

z.

Aggravated act of intimidation;

§ 3533 of this title.

aa.

Abuse, neglect, exploitation, or mistreatment of an adult who is impaired or incapacitated causing bodily harm, permanent disfigurement, permanent disability or death;

§ 3913(c) of Title 31.”.

FURTHER AMEND House Substitute No.

1 for House Bill No.

145 on line 50 by deleting “class A violent felony” and inserting in lieu thereof “reverse-keyword designated felony”.

FURTHER AMEND House Substitute No.

1 for House Bill No.

145 by inserting after line 62 and before line 63 the following:

“(4) A return received in response to a reverse-keyword court order must be kept under seal with the Court and any evidence unrelated to the case must be immediately destroyed, unless otherwise required to be retained and provided to the defendant as potentially exculpatory evidence as required by law.”.

SYNOPSIS This amendment to House Substitute No.

1 to House Bill No.

145 expands the list of crimes where a reverse-key word order may be granted under the conditions outlined in this Act.

It also provides that returns from a reverse-keyword court order must be kept under seal and destroyed if unrelated to the case unless they are potentially exculpatory.

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05/19/202604/14/2026 11:3711:40 AM 0281530199(1) If a database query undertaken pursuant to a reverse-keyword court order issued under this subsection results in 5 or fewer search hits, the entity to whom the order was directed must respond to the order by fully producing the information sought by the order.

(2) If a database query that was undertaken pursuant to a reverse-keyword court order issued under this subsection results in more than 5 search hits, the entity to whom the order was directed must respond to the order by only providing the number of search hits produced by the query without any further information.

The government entity may not seek, view, or accept any additional information generated by the search.

A government entity may seek a new reverse-keyword court order with narrower search terms that meets the requirements of paragraph (d)(1) of this section.

(3) A reverse-keyword court order issued under this subsection must prominently state the required limited response mandated under paragraph (d)(2) of this section in the event the search query returns more than 5 search hits.

(e) A government entity may not seek the assistance of any agency of the federal government or any agency of the government of another state or subdivision thereof in obtaining information or data from a reverse-keyword court order or reverse-keyword request if the government entity would be barred from directly seeking such information under this section.

(f) Suppression of evidence.

(1) Except as proof of a violation of this section, no record or information obtained, accessed, or otherwise secured in violation of this section, nor any evidence derived therefrom, is admissible in any criminal, civil, administrative, or other proceeding.

(2) For purposes of this subsection, a record, information, or evidence is “derived from” a reverse-keyword court order or reverse-keyword request where the government entity would not have originally possessed the information or evidence but for the violative court order or request, and regardless of any claim that the record, information, or evidence is attenuated from the unlawful order or request, would inevitably have been discovered, or was subsequently reobtained through other means.

§ 2313.

Notice and enforcement.

(a) A person whose name or other identifying information was obtained by a government entity in violation of § 2312 of this title must be notified of the violation, in writing, by the government entity who committed the violation and of the legal recourse available to that person under this section.

(b) A violation of § 2312 of this title constitutes an injury and a person injured by a violation may institute proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction for any of the following:

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04/14/2026 11:40 AM (1) Injunctive relief.

(2) Declaratory relief.

(3) A writ of mandamus.

(4) Reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.

(c) Any data or other information acquired in violation of § 2312 of this title must be immediately deleted and destroyed.

(d) Any officer, employee, or agent of the State or a political subdivision thereof who violates § 2312 of this title is subject to appropriate disciplinary action.

SYNOPSIS Reverse-keyword court orders enable the government to obtain technology search data without identifying any specific person as to which there is probable cause to believe they have committed or will imminently commit a crime.

The profusion of electronic devices and apps in recent years has allowed recordation of numerous details of citizen’s everyday lives, that the government should not be permitted to collect and review at will.

Such general searches allow the government to sweep in personal information about hundreds or thousands of people who are not suspected of having committed any crime.

These searches are an invasion of privacy, have a potentially chilling effect on civil liberties, and sidestep requirements for individualized suspicion that are otherwise required for a lawful search.

This House Substitute for House Bill No.

145 would prohibit law enforcement and courts from requesting, issuing, or enforcing reverse-keyword court orders and reverse-keyword requests, with the exception that reverse-keyword court orders and requests may be utilized to investigate suspected Class A Felonies so long as the search query returns 5 or fewer search hits.

It also requires the suppression of evidence derived from an unlawful reverse-keyword search.

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