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June 16, 2025 • 38 mins

Rory sits down with California Assemblymember David Alvarez to explore the TRACE Act (AB 358), a groundbreaking bill reshaping how law enforcement can access digital evidence in stalking, abuse, and privacy invasion cases. With today’s technology outpacing our legal system, the TRACE Act aims to close critical gaps—giving victims the power to hand over tracking devices or hidden cameras found in their personal property without waiting for a warrant. Whether it’s a grieving family needing answers or a survivor discovering a hidden AirTag, this episode highlights the growing urgency for legal tools that match modern threats.

Alvarez explains the community-driven roots of this legislation, how real-world cases helped shape it, and what it means for public trust and digital justice. From digital surveillance to AI and cell phone use in schools, the conversation goes beyond policy into the daily realities of protecting families in the digital age. If you’ve ever questioned your digital safety—or wondered how the law should keep up—this episode offers both answers and action.

Don’t forget to follow and subscribe at OlasMedia.com. To learn more and book a free consultation visit rorylaw.com.

Some notable moments from this episode are:

00:00:45 – Intro to the TRACE Act

00:02:00 – What Is an Assemblymember?

00:04:33 – Background on Privacy Laws

00:05:57 – Why the TRACE Act Matters

00:07:41 – Warrants and Device Access

00:08:22 – Alvarez’s Personal Motivation

00:20:45 – Real Story: AirTag on a Train

00:25:31 – Reaching Undocumented Victims

00:30:34 – What’s Next for the Bill

00:36:30 – Myths and Facts on Digital Privacy

 

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:22):
Welcome back to Unseen Impact, where we explore the deeper
effects of law, policy and the personal experience often where
you'd least expect them. I'm your host, Rory Pendergast, attorney
at Rory Law. Today we're discussing the technology reform and
access to crime evidence, also known as TRACE act. This
bill represents a modern response to a modern problem how

(00:44):
we access evidence in a world dominated by smartphones, GPS
trackers and digital data. As our technology gets smarter, so
must our legal system. And this bill introduced by Assembly
Member Alvarez does just that. Whether it's a grieving family
trying to unlock a phone to find answers, or a
stalking victim discovering an unwanted tracking device on their car,

(01:07):
this bill gives law enforcement the tools to act quickly
and responsibly, but it also raises important questions about privacy,
due process, and the role of tech in our legal system.
That's why I'm honored to be joined today by Assembly
Member David Alvarez, the author of this legislation, to talk
about what led to the bill, how it works, and

(01:28):
what it means for our communities and the courts. David
represents California's 80th Assembly district. He's a former San Diego
City Council member. A lifelong advocate for working families and
a leading voice on housing, education and environmental justice. And
with the Trace act, he's helping reshape how our legal
system treats evidence, truth and accountability. Well, thank you for

(01:51):
being here, David. As we've known each other for a
number of years. So it's always good to see you
and always good to to sit down and talk about
kind of what you're going.

S2 (01:58):
It's great. It's great to see you as well. It's
tough with the job that I have now. You know,
I'm in Sacramento Monday through Thursday, so it's tough to
see old friends. It's great to see you.

S1 (02:07):
Yeah, yeah. So were you were in the city council?
Now you're assembly member. And then, you know, the a
number of years ago I found this out. But how
many assembly members are there.

S2 (02:20):
And what is an Assembly member? He can ask that too.
Nobody knows what it is. It's the House of Representatives
in the state. Yeah, that's what the Assembly is. It's
just called the Assembly instead of House of Representatives in
other states. By the way, it is called the House
of Representatives. And you have state representatives and you have
your federal representatives. And so we are 80 members of

(02:41):
the Assembly. We each represent about half a million people. Okay.
Because there's 40 million people in the state and there's
80 of us. And I happen to represent the southern
most corner of California, southwest most corner here in San Diego.

S1 (02:54):
That's cool, that's cool. And so from what I understand,
you guys, it's either your how many bills are you
supposed to sign on to a year or is it
suggested or is there a number? Is there a quota
that you have to meet?

S2 (03:07):
No, but there are rules that we adopt in the
House and we can. We used to be able to
present up to 50 bills, each one of us, during
a two year session, legislative session.

S1 (03:18):
That's a lot.

S2 (03:19):
That's a lot of bills.

S1 (03:19):
I mean, I don't I don't have my calculator on me,
but 50 times 80, 80. It's a lot. Even if
even if you divide that by two. Right. It's still
a lot.

S2 (03:27):
No. And they were being maximized by every single one.
So we would get to 3000 bills. That's just in
the Assembly. We are bicameral. So we also have a
Senate state Senate and they can do the same thing.
So we're talking about like we used to see roughly
about 5000 potential bills being introduced every year. Now this year,

(03:48):
both the Senate and the Assembly adopted rules that only
allowed 35 bills, which is still quite a quite a
high number of bills, but only 35 could be introduced
in every two in the two year session, which is, uh,
this is the first year and then next year combined
only 35 bills.

S1 (04:03):
And so I guess what that's got to do is
it really makes you think about what it is that
you want. And then the other aspect is, what I'm
kind of getting at with this is if you're going
to be out, there's no way you can go talk
about 50 bills in two years that you've got going,
or even 35 bills that you've got going on. But
we're here today to talk about this bill. So why
why are we here to talk about this bill?

S2 (04:23):
Well, we're talking about this bill because it's caught some interest. But,
you know, the way I look at introducing legislation and
bills is I'm elected to represent a community. Yeah. And
I really see myself as bringing forward ideas for legislation,
for new laws or to eliminate laws, because I've done that, too,
that are on the books that are no longer useless.

(04:44):
In this case, it's to amend or to change an
existing law, which has to do with electronic records.

S1 (04:50):
So now tell me about that. What what what was
the law or is the law that's there that this
is going to amend?

S2 (04:56):
Yeah. So in about ten years ago, we approved what
was called the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act to make
sure that particularly law enforcement did not have access to
specific electronic records that were personal. And that should not
just be willy nilly accessed anytime that someone wanted to

(05:19):
to look into your activities, which you were doing and
done for really, you know, the right reasons. As technology
has evolved and changed, we use electronic methods a lot more.
And so we decided in California, the legislature at the
time approved, and it's been in the books ever since.
Since then, technology has changed a little bit more. And

(05:39):
so what we're talking about today is this very, very
limited type of technology that gets used, which is surveillance devices,
spy cameras, tracking devices, which were not really a thing
when this was first thought of a few years ago.
And now they've become a thing, they become a problem.
And that's what this bill is about.

S1 (05:57):
Well, I mean, if you think about it ten years ago,
from a technology standpoint, that's like a thousand years ago, right?
I mean, it is so much different. Look, about these AirTags,
how easy it is to go. Think about even like
your ring cameras your your surveillance there the how what
has changed in the ten years and so specifically, what
is it that this. What are the minor changes that this,

(06:17):
that the Trace act does or is going to do?

S2 (06:19):
Yeah. So very specifically it would allow police if you
are a victim in your home and.

S1 (06:26):
We're talking criminal victim. Yes.

S2 (06:27):
Okay. Your victim of someone that that you know, is
either spying you because you identify this device in your home,
in a vent in the bathroom, and you're anywhere in
your home or in your car, or you find a
tracking device in your car or in your luggage, as, unfortunately,
one of the members of my staff that I know
actually had a tracking device when she was on a

(06:49):
trip that was placed in her bag.

S1 (06:51):
Somebody dropped it. Yes. Oh. That's creepy.

S2 (06:53):
And so, um, anytime you find that that you'd be
able to turn that over to the police and say,
this is not belong to me. I have high suspicion
that someone is tracking me or someone is watching me. Uh,
that the police would then have access to be able
to use any information associated with that device to help
potentially solve that crime. Today, what happens is police may

(07:16):
have access to that, and they usually do get access
to that, but they have to go through a warrant process,
which in some cases can take only a few hours.
But in some cases it may take may take longer
for any number of reasons. The court may be backed
up or anything like that. And so this would say
you have authority that if, if the victim who has
it on their personal property. So I can't say like,
oh out there, someone's got this device. No, it's got

(07:37):
to be something within your within your property. You can
give that access to police and say please search it.

S1 (07:44):
So you're saying right now if I have either in
my house or I have some luggage or I have
some of this, my personal property, and somebody drops some
sort of tracking device, whether it be audio, video, or
just to physically track where I'm going, I have to
go get a or I have to ask the police
to get get a warrant. That is correct. Find out
where that's coming from.

S2 (08:03):
That's correct.

S1 (08:04):
That's that. That's a little odd.

S2 (08:06):
So that's what that was. What was about? It was
about protecting because we don't want abuse of of of
of use of information either. Right. And so again, because technology,
as you said, changes, you know, a million times over
every several years, it's hard to keep track with what
changes have occurred. We were talking about cell phones and

(08:26):
they were flip phones probably at that time. Right. Not
even smartphones. And so things have really changed.

S1 (08:31):
Yeah. So then let me ask you this one. How
is it that you've signed on to this one? I mean,
maybe it's just naturally or inherently got traction. You didn't
kind of expect it, but what was there something that
happened that made you think, hey, there's an issue and
I've got to fix and this is what can fix it.

S2 (08:45):
So that's what I sort of started telling you about,
like the ideas that I sort of take on as
bills are things that I either read about. I read
a lot of, of articles about what's happening, obviously throughout
the world, in the state and in the country. And
so some of those ideas happened that way. For example,
we had a bill on banning cell phones use in

(09:05):
schools that came from That came from me being a parent.
I have a middle schooler. Read all the research that
the Surgeon General talked about the impacts of social media
to children. And so that is what drove sort of
that decision in this case. What happened is I was
presented with this idea, as, you know, this is happening,

(09:25):
people are being spied and we've heard about incidents that
were occurring. And unfortunately, you hear more and more about
those incidents, and then you sort of lay on top
of that, that I'm a father of a of a
young girl who's in middle school now in high school, actually,
my son is also going into middle school. And so
the fact that this could be used to potentially harm,
you know, your own children, you try to sort of

(09:47):
find ways to prevent that. And it really most of
the work I've done in public service has been around.
How do I from my lived experience, how can I
make it better for others? And in this case, you know,
I want to make sure that that that, you know,
children and certainly young women aren't exposed because they're the
ones who, unfortunately, are being targeted the most.

S1 (10:04):
Absolutely. And now, I mean, I can imagine anything when
you're talking about electronic data, you're going to have some
kickback no matter what. But this seems to have kind
of breezed through the assembly.

S2 (10:15):
Not breezed through, but it has gotten through. There have
been some concerns from some folks that we should still
require the warrant process, because potentially it could lead to
investigators or police having information, perhaps, of someone that they
should have no access to. Yeah. So that's been the
the only slight disagreement with some folks, um, that they

(10:39):
believe that they should just not have access to this.
It's a difference of opinion. That's what really, you know,
this debate debates are about and legislating and writing laws
are about debates. And I, I firmly believe that if
you're a victim, if you find this in your own
property and it doesn't belong to you, you've essentially, uh,
the the property has been abandoned by the person who

(11:00):
abandoned it. And so now it's no longer their right
to protect. And so the difference of opinion there.

S1 (11:05):
And that's kind of what I want to focus in
because it is kind of it's this wild sort of
concept again very limited from what I'm hearing. Right. So
you have the protections out there. And then this is
just one little sliver that's just trying to keep pace
with with time as it goes on. And essentially you're
saying I find something foreign in my stuff, my property.

(11:28):
And this just allows me a little bit extra power
to find out what it is, who put it there
and why it's there.

S2 (11:35):
That's absolutely what it does. And why that's critical is
because in the opposition says, well, you can still have
access to it. And they're correct. Eventually police will get
a warrant. Yeah. There's been no real case where that
has not happened. But as technology and those who use
it get smarter about how to, perhaps you use some
method to to block the access of of the information

(11:58):
that's there. This is really about bringing justice to the victim.
Now imagine if someone has a spy camera in their
personal home and they've been being watched and that's been used, unfortunately,
maybe to to sell images or anything like that. If
if the person knows because it's obvious that now it's
been they've been caught. Yeah. They're going to find ways

(12:20):
to disconnect any way to to them.

S1 (12:23):
And so it's a speed you got to fuse. And
as soon as that fuse is burned up it's gone.

S2 (12:28):
It's done.

S1 (12:29):
Okay. You know, what's kind of interesting about it is I,
you know, on the on the civil side of things,
I've handled a number of nonconsensual pornography cases. And at
one point it was just, you know, I get what
it is, is you have this criminal aspect. It spills
over into the civil side. But then there's other rules,
other laws that, that, that kind of bump up against that.
So for instance, it used to be that, you know, as,

(12:50):
as part of the, the non-consensual pornography, uh, civil act that,
you know, you can have a court take down order
that those images be taken down. But there was another
code on the books that basically said, if you're going
to do that, you need to post the bond, which
means you need to pay money. So in essence, what
it was is that the victim of somebody having their,

(13:13):
you know, sexual images online would have to pay in
order to have those things pulled down. Right. And ultimately,
they might get the money back. But with Chris Ward,
we were able to kind of make a little change.
And it's one of those things to where you have 80,
80 Assembly members, 50 or 35 bills every two years.

(13:35):
Some of these things, the zipper just doesn't zip up, right.
And so it sounds as though what this is, is
that it's just trying to kind of reset that zipper.
So it so it, so it kind of zips up.

S2 (13:44):
And again, it just recognizes that the world has changed,
you know, since it was introduced and agreed upon.

S1 (13:51):
I mean, ten years, ten years is a lot with
what's going on now. I mean, even just think about
two years ago, right where we were at and where
it's going to go. And then I think a big
thing is just the age of people. You know, a
16 year old might be able to to circumvent some
of these things better than a, than a 20 year
old veteran of this sort of stuff.

S2 (14:11):
Absolutely. Yeah. The the access to technology, technological tools is
just tremendous and tremendously powerful for good or for bad.

S1 (14:19):
So and that's kind of wild to think about from
the legislative aspect. So what all like what else is
going on up in Sacramento or with you and the
community where you're you're trying to monitor all these things?

S2 (14:29):
Well, you know, the most difficult, I think, challenge that
we have on this front, which is very advanced, is,
is artificial intelligence.

S1 (14:38):
Yeah.

S2 (14:39):
Right. And what to do about that and how to
regulate it correctly, to not stymie any use of the
technology so that it can create advances that are important
for society but also not create harm. And I'll tell you,
one of the biggest challenges of the the biggest challenges,
but also the best things about the job is that

(15:01):
literally any issue you can imagine we touch we could
pass laws and that's that could be scary. But it's
also very, you know, it's what makes the job really
fascinating and interesting. And if you're a lifelong learner and
you like to challenge yourself, we're talking about technology, health,
criminal justice, you know, education, higher education, preschool, childcare, mental health,

(15:26):
like literally every topic that you can think about, we
deal with those issues. And so one of the biggest
challenges when it comes to artificial intelligence is that, as
you said earlier, a younger person may be more adept
to that issue. Someone even my age at only about
to be 45. It's now I'm I'm sort of I

(15:47):
have the ancient technology technology that I know about. I
don't know what's happening. I'm barely learning about, you know,
ChatGPT and all of those tools that are being utilized.
And and so now we have to make decisions on that.
And that's what makes it difficult.

S1 (16:00):
So you've got to I mean you've got to learn.
You've got to you've got you have to become an
expert in these things.

S2 (16:05):
Yeah. And like you said, if imagine everybody introduces 20
bills roughly, you got to become an expert in 20
different things for every person potentially.

S1 (16:12):
So let me ask you this one. Because if you
if you think about it as basis, right, like why
did you get into politics, just generally speaking, what did
you get into politics.

S2 (16:21):
So I got in to politics back in 2010 was
my first election, and it was really about I was
growing up and I grew up in a community with
a lot of challenges. I'm the first person in my
family to go to college. My siblings spent time in
the criminal justice system. I got married, started to have
my own family, decided to buy my home in my

(16:42):
own neighborhood where I grew up in, which had all
those challenges, high crime rates and poverty rates and all
of that. And I just wanted to make sure that
the family that I was going to raise was going
to live in a better place. And it was very,
very neighborhood centric thinking at the at that time, when
I first decided to run, I had my daughter. By then,

(17:03):
I said, okay, is this going to be a good
place where my kids are going to be safe, where
when you call 911 for an emergency, fire is going
to respond? We had at that moment had a lot
of unfortunate incidents with what were called brownouts, which is
fire stations were being closed and response to calls was delayed.

(17:23):
And so that was really worrisome. As a new parent, um,
is my child going to have a good community center
to go and have after school activities? Is the library
going to be open for resources? The library was very
important to me growing up. After school was my middle
school sort of safe place. And so all those things

(17:43):
were services that I knew were really not happening in
my community. So that's how it started. I did my
time on the city council, really focused on those issues.
I actually left government for four years and then didn't
decide to get back in until this opportunity for the
assembly opened up, and then that was really about another
stage of my life. I've done all that work at
the neighborhood level. Now, I was seeing the the world

(18:05):
from a different perspective. My children were growing. I started
to think about what are their educational pathways and college
and university, and what are we doing to focus in
on that housing, and how are they going to live here,
given what's happening with the cost of housing? So those
two are big drivers for me in the work that
I do today.

S1 (18:23):
So then what you're talking about is just like human necessity, right?
Just just getting by, making your life as convenient as
it can. How do you go from that into those
are kind of easy sells, right. So because I'm guessing
that there are other people in your neighborhood that are saying, hey,
I don't like that. You know, if there's a fire
I want, I want the fire department to be here.

(18:44):
These are very like right in front of you sort
of issues. What are the things that you're doing either
to to find out from your community or to, you know,
educate your community about the technology side because it's just
so kind of out there for most people and kind
of just this high level. So how are you able

(19:05):
to kind of make that connection that you're you're you're
kind of like from the from the roots, from the
home to this sort of high level kind of law making.

S2 (19:15):
So we have conversations just like this, and we have
town halls, and we invite people to come and learn
about the work that I'm doing. And we kind of
get feelers for like, how do people feel is this
idea of ensuring that tracking devices and spy cameras, if
you find it in your home? Should we should we
ensure that police can have access to that information immediately?
And we ask those questions on that bill on bills

(19:38):
related to housing. Should we make it easier to build
housing in every neighborhood? Which areas on education? Which kind
of law should we have on the books so that
kids can learn? Should we have a cell phone policy
to ban cell phones or restrict the use of cell phones?
Should we make for kids? Right. Thank you for clarifying.
In schools, uh, should we make social media be more

(19:59):
responsible for, uh, for the kids who have access to it?
And how do we do that? So this is literally
conversations you have to have with the community through town halls,
through coffees, uh, from being at community fairs and listening
to them. We bring forward these are the bills that
the Assembly member is working on. Uh, we ask for
feedback and, and tried all channels, as we are doing

(20:20):
now through, through this, uh, of communication so that people
can hear what we're doing.

S1 (20:24):
What are some of the things that you heard from
your community with respect to this, to the Trace Act?

S2 (20:29):
Uh, we have a lot of people who just respond
very similar to the way you did, which is, well,
that kind of makes sense. It kind of makes sense
if you find it in your own property and it's
not yours, you should be able to turn that over.
And police should be able to to immediately do, uh,
Gather information, search the device to see what data is

(20:50):
there and who who has access to that data. The
response has been pretty uniformly that that's what people want
to see.

S1 (20:55):
Beyond just sort of this, this fear. Because for me
it would be a fear and anxiousness about it. Right?
Because it is. It's like, hey, what is this? What
is this? Somebody tracking me and somebody's tracking my kids.
But have you heard of any stories from people that
this has actually happened?

S2 (21:08):
Yeah. So I had a staff member of mine who
it happened to, and she was on a train ride
from Sacramento to Los Angeles, and she she kept telling
she said that she kept getting a notification on her
phone that there's this device and she just sort of, um, or.

S1 (21:26):
Phone was picking it up.

S2 (21:27):
Yeah. Because, you know, when something's nearby your phone. And
I've never actually used an AirTag myself, so I don't
know exactly what it says in terms of what devices
is following you. But she kept getting the notification because
the device was on her and her phone was on her,
and it was trying to connect. And so.

S1 (21:42):
Are you kidding.

S2 (21:43):
Me? Yeah. And so she had that all the way down.
And then she when she found it, she said she
didn't know what to do with it. She, she said
she called her her family and asked. And she just
threw it away because she didn't know what else to
do so that it wouldn't be beyond her anymore. But yeah,
it was. Must have been slipped somewhere on the train
station on her way there.

S1 (21:59):
What's so scary about that is because you just don't know.
Was was I a target or did it just happen
to be here? Did it? Was it just somebody inadvertently
just dropped it in there? Yeah. And so from my
perspective as the attorney, what I look at that is
it's an invasion of privacy. And it's hard to kind
of get your, your mind around that. Right? Okay. You're

(22:20):
on a train. You're going from Sacramento, down the coast
of California, down California to Los Angeles. But but yet
it's somebody who is entering your space. And I think
that's the big stuff with this digital thing. And so
I think from what I hear from what you're saying,
in the sort of the connection I can make is
the same sort of concerns, the same sort of human

(22:40):
everyday concerns you have can can relate to this kind
of wild Star Trek sort of of technology that's going on.
And just like this, this invasion of privacy. And I've
handled a few cases with invasion of privacy. And what
happens with people is that it's just consistently what I
hear is, you know, whenever they walk into a room,

(23:03):
they think somebody's looking at me. Is this because it
just this sort of fear, this anxiety comes over it
simply because somebody did something and you can't do anything
about that.

S2 (23:14):
And so the trauma remains.

S1 (23:15):
Oh, absolutely. And then most people don't recognize how how
prevalent that trauma is. And so what I see with
this is it removes that this happened. And I can't
do anything about it. Right. From from what you're telling me,
this is my take is that you can do something
about it. Right. And so then but again, it's, it's

(23:35):
a like you're saying it's very if you were to
take a poll right now, how many people out there
in your district and throughout California would understand or know
that there was these protections put in place ten years ago.

S2 (23:46):
They wouldn't.

S1 (23:47):
Know. They wouldn't know. And then so they're not necessarily
going to know. It makes sense that, hey, yeah you're right.
It's on my property. They abandoned it. It should be mine.
They should be able to do something with it. But
so what, if anything, can are you doing or can
you do to kind of educate your people?

S2 (24:02):
Yeah. So we are making sure that people know what
the work we're doing and we obviously are working for
like with the, um, some of the advocates and some
of the like, district attorney's office to make sure that
people know that this is actually, unfortunately, happening. We just
heard some stories not heard reported. We saw, um, unfortunately,

(24:23):
it was happening in, um, in El Cajon recently. It
was in the local news station that this is something
that's been been happening there. And so unfortunately, it happens
more and more. And I think that's one of the
things that we can use these moments of, yeah, we're
trying to change the law. But education is also really
important because you just have to be unfortunately, you just

(24:45):
have to be more aware. You have to look around.

S1 (24:47):
And, you know, one of the big things I spent
a lot of my time like, I mean, I'm a
contingency fee attorney, right? So I don't I don't get
paid by the hour. I don't send bills. I don't
send invoices. I must say that a thousand times a day,
because I'm trying to tell people that. But what that
enables me to do is to educate people, right? So
I tell people, call me, ask your questions. And finally,
essentially what I've decided is that I want I'm an educator,

(25:10):
I want to educate you with what's going on, because
I'm the one who's going to see these sort of things,
and I'm the one who can kind of tell you
what's going on. What are your rights if I don't
know what that what something is, I can help you
find where to go and who to talk to. So
in this case, who are some of the advocates with groups,
people that are helping you out with this one?

S2 (25:30):
Yeah. So we want to make it clear that if
you find yourself in that situation, that you feel confident
that if you turn over the information that those who
are there to serve and protect us, law enforcement is
going to be able to be responsive to you first
and foremost. Yeah, that's really the key. We want to
make sure that people have that certainty. We don't want
the last thing we want is people to say, well,
no one can do anything about it. Yes, that's the

(25:52):
worst part.

S3 (25:53):
Yeah.

S1 (25:54):
So okay, so now with everything that's going on in
the world today, you've got kind of some wrinkles going
on there, right? So certain folks trying to trust law enforcement.
How do you make that connection. How do you tell
somebody who says that they're fearful, hey, I might get
deported or they may they may look at me. If
I'm the victim, am I going to be looked at
as somebody who's causing problems? How were you able to

(26:15):
convince people to to speak out in those situations?

S2 (26:19):
Well, one of the things that we've done and we
got to remind ourselves of California Values Act in California,
which is and also, if you're a victim of a crime,
just generally you're protected. That's really important. And it's a
message that you're right these days. Um, we had done
a lot of work to get people to that point
to feel comfortable with that. And now, unfortunately, because of
what's happening in our country in particular, people are concerned.

(26:42):
And I have to say, unfortunately, their genuine concerns. Right.
Like what? What is going to happen? Um, but that
continues to be the case. We want to what we've
done in our community. For example, at church, we had
the sheriff's office, the police department come and, um, after mass,
they stayed on a Sunday and they were given the

(27:03):
opportunity to talk about why it's important that they still
communicate when there's a crime. And they heard it directly
from people in uniform, from the sheriff's office, from the
police department. And that's just more education that unfortunately we're
going to have to continue to do.

S1 (27:18):
And so it one of the things I'd like to
leave people with is that from from your take on things. Right.
So I know what I would say is that if
somebody has a question, you know, you can think of
me as as the protector, right? When you when you
come into the office, whether it's through the phone, zoom
or physically. there. I got my arms around you and
I'm the one to protect you. And so I can
be your voice over that wall of protection, right? But

(27:41):
I certainly can't do that for everybody. But. So what
sort of advice would you give to somebody who either
has been a victim of a crime like this, who
as a family member is concerned about what's going on? So,
for instance, other parents of children of, you know, high schoolers.
What is it that you can say to give them
some confidence of of either what person or organization to

(28:05):
go to, to help them so that they feel protected
in getting their voice heard?

S2 (28:10):
Yeah. I think again, uh, as this bill intends to do,
this law intends to do, making sure that law enforcement
has all the tools so that they can have your
back and working with them and crime victims groups as well. Um,
and there are, you know, unfortunately, domestic violence victims often
find themselves with this situation of tracking and spying. Um,

(28:31):
and those groups also obviously are are there for support.
And so those are all the types of family justice
center here in San Diego. We happen to have that. Um,
those are the types of places where and people who
you can go to to ensure. But once again, if
you do think you're a victim of this, it's got
to be reported.

S1 (28:51):
Yeah. And kind of what it sounds like to me
is that even though we've we've talked a little bit about,
but even though you have these high level sort of
wild technological things, people drop in AirPods, it still comes
down to a community. It still comes down to feeling
a sense of security, and it still comes down to trust. Yeah.

(29:13):
And you have to trust someone around you and just
hope that they will help you and do something. But
you also have to have the legal tools in order
to get there. And it sounds as though this might
be one of those little fixes.

S2 (29:25):
We got to fix this to make sure those legal
tools exist. And like you said, it's about trust, which
as you know, is difficult to build with people.

S3 (29:33):
Yeah.

S2 (29:33):
Um, it's a lot easier to lose it.

S3 (29:35):
Yes.

S2 (29:35):
And so our job is to continue to provide information
so that people do feel trustworthy, that there is a
process that can work for them.

S1 (29:44):
Well, and I like that you say that because, you know, trust,
trust takes a lot to be built. But if you're
a trustworthy person and your heart is in the right
place and you work hard towards it, it's easy to
show somebody that right. It may take a while to
get there, but it's easy to show somebody because your
actions will speak louder than your words on that.

S2 (30:04):
And that's I think that's very true for the work
you do, and it's very true for the work that
that I do.

S3 (30:09):
Oh, absolutely.

S2 (30:10):
It's very easy. In fact, there may be the two
professions where people are the most untrustworthy or at least, um,
you know, I was just talking to somebody yesterday who
I think because I've built trust with. We were talking
about an issue about housing that they happened to just
disagree with me on. I am a big proponent of
building more and making sure we have for our future

(30:31):
generations a place for them to live. Um, it's been
years of a relationship, and I think, again, very opposed
to my view on that. But because of the trust
and knowing that the work that I do is focused
on serving the community, I think that was able that
was we were able to sort of just say, we
agree to disagree on this, but, you know, the relationship continues.

S1 (30:51):
It's all relationships. Yeah. Well, so to kind of finish
it out, what are the next steps for the Trace Act?

S2 (30:57):
Yeah. So it's now been out of the assembly, went
out of the committees. It was voted by the full assembly.
It's over on the Senate now. And so the Senate
needs to go through their committee process. They will review it.
I'm sure they will suggest more changes. That's what happens.
And then ultimately the Senate will vote for this. And
if they do, then we will send it over to
the governor for his signature or veto.

S1 (31:17):
It'll get signed. And then so January 26th.

S2 (31:20):
It becomes law January of next year.

S1 (31:21):
Okay. Well, David, thank you so much. I really appreciate
you coming here. And always it's good to see you
and talk with you.

S2 (31:27):
It's been great.

S4 (31:27):
Thank you. Thanks.

S5 (31:28):
Now we'll be right back with more insights from the
front lines of healing, advocacy and accountability. Stay with us.

S6 (31:41):
Mixed Ground's Coffee, founded in 2020, is where Culture Brews Community.
Located in San Diego's Logan Heights District, this Vietnamese owned
micro roastery brings you the world's finest beans roasting small batches.
Mixed grounds is proud to present. I just wanted to
post record on the All Media Network celebrating arts, community

(32:03):
and culture.

S7 (32:05):
Hey, it's Daniel from Beyond the Doors. We're super excited
to be a part of the Olas Media Network recording
right here in San Diego, alongside some amazing podcasts. There's
a host of wonderful shows from all types of genres,
basically like real estate. There's a little something for all
walks of life. You won't want to miss it. So

(32:26):
head over to Ola's media or wherever you get your podcasts.
Don't forget to follow or subscribe while you're there. Now
let's get back to the show.

S5 (32:39):
Welcome back. Let's continue the conversation.

S1 (32:44):
Now it's time for the Myths and Facts segment of
our podcast, where we separate truth from fiction. There's a
lot of information out there and not all of it
is accurate. So we're here to set the record straight
with real facts from your trusted attorney. Let's start with
the first one myth. If you're not doing anything wrong,
you have nothing to hide. Fact. Privacy is a right,

(33:05):
not a privilege. People have a legal and moral expectation
to control their personal data, regardless of guilt or innocence.
The next myth myth. Law enforcement can already access any
phone if it's important enough. Fact in many cases, even
high priority investigations get stalled due to encryption, lack of consent,

(33:27):
or the time it takes to obtain a warrant. The
system isn't always nimble enough for urgent cases. The next myth. Myth.
Only criminals care about digital privacy. Fact. Every day, people
are increasingly impacted. Victims of stalking, abuse, or identity theft
often need legal access to devices for protection or justice.

(33:51):
Not secrets. The next myth. Myth. All digital tracking is
obvious and easy to find. Fact. Modern tracking devices can
be hidden, passive, and difficult to detect. Many victims don't
realize they're being followed until it's too late. Myth. Giving
police more access means giving up all privacy. Fact thoughtfully

(34:16):
written laws can expand access and narrow emergency related situations
without opening the door to blanket surveillance. Balance is possible
and necessary. Now let's go into our Q&A segment. We're
tackling the most common questions we get from clients and
the online community. Let's jump into it. Question why is

(34:37):
access to digital data important in crime investigations? Today, phones,
GPS devices and other electronics hold vital evidence, texts, location, history,
photos and metadata that can help identify suspects, verify alibis,
or reveal patterns of abuse or stalking. Without timely access,
critical leads can be lost. Next question can law enforcement

(35:01):
access your phone without a warrant? Generally, no. The Fourth
Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Law enforcement typically
needs a warrant, except in narrowly defined circumstances like consent
or emergencies that threaten life or safety. AB 358 seeks
to clarify specific situations like these. Next question. What happens

(35:25):
when a deceased person's phone might contain important information? Well,
this kind of digital evidence can be time sensitive for
both closure and for criminal investigations. More importantly, it can
help families find out what was going on the last
moment of their loved ones life and can help with
the grieving process. Next question. What privacy risks come with

(35:50):
expanding access to digital evidence? The main risk is overreach.
If laws aren't narrowly tailored, there's potential for misuse, such
as accessing unrelated private data or violating the rights of
third parties. That's why legal safeguards, transparency and accountability are critical.

(36:11):
Next question how do tracking devices or smart tech complicate
privacy today? Great question. AirTags, smartwatches and even connected cars
can be used to surveil someone without consent. Victims may
discover these devices, but have no legal way to access
or disable them without violating existing privacy laws. The legal

(36:33):
gray area is what reforms like the Trace act try
to address. And that wraps up this episode of Unseen Impact.
A big thanks to you, Assembly Member David Alvarez, for
helping us unpack with the Trace Act means not just
for lawyers and law enforcement, but for families, victims and
communities trying to navigate a digital world. If this episode

(36:55):
got you thinking about your own rights, your privacy, or
how the law should keep pace with technology. Good. That's
the point. If you liked today's episode, make sure to
subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a
review or your questions if you have any. For more
stories and information on legal related topics, follow us on Instagram,
TikTok and YouTube at. At Rory Law Firm. You can

(37:20):
also learn more about our work or book a free
consultation with us at RoryLaw.com. I'm Rory Pendergast from Rory Law.
Thank you for joining me.

S5 (37:34):
Thanks for tuning in to Unseen Impact with Rory Pendergast.
Please follow, subscribe, and maybe share this episode with someone
who's walking their own path to recovery or justice. You
can find us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn at
Rory Law Firm. To learn more about legal services or
get in touch, visit Rory Law.com. Unseen impact is recorded

(37:58):
in San Diego, California, and proudly produced by Olas Media,
an IVC media company.

S8 (38:14):
Olas Media.
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