New Bill Would Require a Warrant for Authorities to Access Your E-mail

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Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) is looking to breathe new life into a piece of dated legislation, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (1986), with a proposal that would require the government to obtain a warrant to access private e-mail and other user data from internet service providers (ISPs).

The current version of the ECPA allows law enforcement to have access to private user data without “probable cause,” and has been the subject of intense scrutiny regarding modern user privacy, especially since the still-active act was dubiously created in the pre-internet era.

In a statement, Senator Leahy said the following:

“[The ECPA] is significantly outdated, and outpaced by rapid changes in technology and the changing mission of our law enforcement agencies after Sept. 11. Updating this law to reflect the realities of our time is essential to ensuring that our federal privacy laws keep pace with new technologies and the new threats to our security.”

However, the proposed amendments would still allow for federal entities like the FBI to obtain financial information and cell phone location data without a court order, while doing away with a currently-active 180-day wait time mandatory to access unopened emails, however sensitive.

Proponents of online privacy cheer the proposed bill as a welcome step in the right direction, while cautioning that there’s still a long way to go.

(via Ars Technica)

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Why Your Private Data Wants to Be Free

California Pushes for Tighter Social Network Privacy Controls

Google Fined $142,000 for Collecting Private Data