Washington – The House is expected to once again vote on the Email Privacy Act under a suspension of the rules Monday. Last session the House unanimously approved legislation to enhance privacy protections to citizens’ email.
The bipartisan Email Privacy Act clearly gives Fourth Amendment protections to electronic communications by requiring the government to obtain a warrant based on probable cause to access the contents of citizens’ email stored in the cloud. The bill updates the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which was written 30 years ago.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association has advocated for modernization of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act for a decade. The following can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Ed Black:
“Updating digital privacy law for this century has broad, bipartisan and is long overdue. Now that personal information and communication are usually stored online, it is imperative to extend the Constitutional protections from government intrusion letters and other paper documents have to email.
“We appreciate House leaders and co-sponsors of this bill for expediting a vote next week, and encourage House members to pass it. There are other significant issues to make sure Americans’ civil liberties are protected in broader ways, and we look forward to working with citizens rights groups and this Congress.”