Supporting a cause shouldn’t put you at risk

Just four years ago, Iowa elected officials passed a landmark law to protect Iowans’ privacy when they join, donate to, or volunteer for a nonprofit organization. Now that law is being tested, in exactly the way its backers predicted.

Rep. Charley Thomson R-Charles City, the powerful Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, recently demanded that at least one nonprofit, Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice, turn over sensitive personal details about its members and supporters. Thomson wasn’t just fishing for financial information. He wanted a complete list of the names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses, among other details, of the organization’s backers.

The group rejected Thomson’s demand and vowed to protect their supporters from exposure and possible retaliation.

“We all have rights, we have each other’s backs and we will not remain silent or intimidated by threats,” Erica Johnson, the group's executive director, pledged in a message to members.

The state’s 2021 privacy law offers a powerful shield to Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice and any other nonprofits whose members come under political scrutiny. The law prohibits state agencies and officials, including members of the Iowa Legislature, from making unlawful demands or disclosures relating to the personal information of nonprofit supporters. That same year, a U.S. Supreme Court decision struck down a California policy (engineered by former state attorney general Kamala Harris) that required nonprofits to surrender their donor lists to state officials.

The Court warned that this kind of disclosure can chill free speech and invite retaliation, as it did during the Civil Rights Movement. In today’s heated political climate, even the most mainstream organizations can face threats, harassment, and doxing from extremists.

That’s why groups on the left and the right, including the organization I represent, joined together to support the privacy law. Organizations that spoke out in favor included LGBTQ rights organization, One Iowa, and the socially conservative FAMiLY Leader, as well as the ACLU of Iowa, Americans for Prosperity, Iowans for Tax Relief, Iowa Safe Schools, and Planned Parenthood, among many others.

“We’re on the opposite sides of a lot of issues, but we have the same sort of existential threat from those who don’t like us,” testified Chuck Hurley of The FAMiLY Leader.

“I know I’ve been chased out of this building by individuals shouting at me,” said Victoria Sinclair of Iowans for Tax Relief. “I know others who have been spat on or had to be escorted to their vehicle by state troopers to ensure their personal safety. This is an occupational hazard that we’ve all taken on to help advance the causes of our members and our donors. But our members should not have to fear for their lives for holding a view that may be unpopular at any given time.”

The privacy law passed the Iowa House 84-9 and Senate 45-1 on its way to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk. Remarking on the bill’s popularity, then-Sen. Joe Bolkcom D-Iowa City joked: “I wonder, Mr. Chairman, if this bill might be a vehicle for an amendment calling for world peace.”

Respecting the privacy of nonprofit members may not bring about world peace, but it can help keep the peace in Iowa. When citizens with different views live side by side, privacy ensures all can speak up without fear. That’s why donor privacy matters and why political demands that violate the law should concern everyone, no matter your beliefs.

Heather Lauer is the CEO of People United for Privacy Foundation, a nonprofit that defends the First Amendment rights of all Americans and champion of Iowa’s privacy law.