New Hampshire HB 1436: relative to the classification and protection of personal digital information and cloud-stored files.

Bill Text

HB 1436-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2026 SESSION

 26-2464

 06/08

HOUSE BILL 1436-FN

AN ACT relative to the classification and protection of personal digital information and cloud-stored files.

SPONSORS: Rep. Spillane, Rock. 2; Rep. Cole, Hills. 26; Rep. Popovici-Muller, Rock. 17; Rep. Bernardy, Rock. 36; Rep. Ammon, Hills. 42; Rep. Moffett, Merr. 4; Rep. Kesselring, Hills. 18; Rep. Roy, Rock. 31; Rep. Corcoran, Hills. 28; Rep. Notter, Hills. 12

COMMITTEE: Judiciary

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ANALYSIS

This bill:

 I. Establishes property rights in personal digital information, including data stored on cloud servers.

 II. Creates a legal presumption of bailment for unpublished content.

 III. Affirms that digital records are protected from unreasonable government searches or seizures, requiring a warrant unless otherwise authorized by law.

 IV. Distinguishes private unpublished data from public information for property and privacy purposes.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

 Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

 Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

 26-2464

 06/08

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-Six

AN ACT relative to the classification and protection of personal digital information and cloud-stored files.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 1 Short Title. This act shall be known as the "Common Law Privacy and Consumer Protection Act." 

 2 Findings and Purpose. The general court finds that: 

 I. Advances in technology and business practices involving the transfer of personal information to third-party platforms and cloud service providers have put consumers and citizens at considerable risk of being divested of rights in their information that they actually retain. 

 II. Common law recognition of people's retained rights in information so transferred has not been sufficiently recognized. 

 III. Recognition of the rights people retain in information they share with others in controlled contexts, such as providing services or sharing in confidential relationships, will help protect privacy without hindering information flows or the development of new business models and services. 

 IV. Individuals retain property rights in information they share subject to appropriate controls, so that it is legally and constitutionally their information. 

 3 New Subdivision; Privacy and Consumer Protection. Amend RSA 507-H by inserting after section 12 the following new subdivision: 

Privacy and Consumer Protection

 507-H:13 Property Treatment of Personal Information. 

 I. One who takes possession of and places the unpublished personal information of another into a digital record, including but not limited to those stored in a cloud server, is presumed to create a bailment for mutual benefit, subject to terms established by contract.

 II. Personal information that remains identifiable after incorporation in a digital record is presumed to remain the property of its original owner.

 III. A digital record derivative of such a record containing no personally identifiable information is presumed to belong to its creator by rules of accession.

 IV. For purposes of article 19 of the New Hampshire constitution, the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and RSA 595-A, a digital document or record, whether stored locally on a device or in a cloud server subject to contractual protections against disclosure, shall be presumed the person's “papers” or “effects,” and is protected from unreasonable search or seizure. No government entity shall access, search, or seize the contents of such documents or records except pursuant to a warrant issued upon probable cause by a court of competent jurisdiction, or as otherwise specifically authorized by law. 

 507-H:14 Exceptions. Unpublished personal information shall be presumed not to include any information: 

 I. Whose owner has made it public;

 II. Lawfully obtained and disclosed for news reporting or public commentary on matters of public concern;

 III. Representing or derived from activities conducted as a public official or agent of the state;

 IV. The use of which is strictly necessary to preserve life or property from imminent threats. 

 507-H:15 Severability. If any provision of this subdivision or its application is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision. 

 4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage. 

 LBA

 26-2464

 11/24/25

HB 1436-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT relative to the classification and p