Utah’s Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that would protect the names, home and work addresses, and telephone numbers of researchers at state universities who use animals. The bill now goes to the House.
The measure was proposed in response to harassment of academic scientists by a group called Utah Primate Freedom, The Daily Utah Chronicle reported last week. The animal-rights group stages demonstrations and publishes researchers’ home addresses on its Web site.
The names and some contact information of several of the animal scientists targeted by the group are easily available at the Web site of the University of Utah. The bill would make such information unavailable to protesters or other people, including journalists and other researchers, without an appeal. —Lila Guterman
