DelBene, Issa Tout Importance of IoT, ECPA, Privacy Issues in C-SPAN Interview

Reps. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who formed the Congressional Caucus on the Internet of Things two years ago (see 1501130038), said during a C-SPAN interview that House members are more knowledgeable about the technology but unaware of the growth rate and challenges faced. The IoT must be multi-jurisdictional and that means actively recruiting lawmakers from several committees, including the House Commerce Committee, to work together and ensure that any legislation that reaches the floor won't have huge opposition, said Issa. DelBene said members should understand the IoT's use in infrastructure and be reminded of consumer protection, interoperability and privacy and security. In the interview for a segment of C-SPAN's The Communicators, which was to have been televised Saturday, both also said the Email Privacy Act, which updates the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, is again a priority of theirs. DelBene said ECPA was written when people didn't use email to communicate. "We need to update our laws so that we have a warrant standard for all information," she said. The House last year unanimously passed the bill, which never advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It was reintroduced recently (see 1701090017 and 1701100071). Issa also brought up the government's fight with Apple over unlocking the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, California, mass shooters. "It created a question that hadn't been a question before about privacy," said Issa. "If you ask someone to break into a safe to get documents that's a reasonable thing to do. If you design a safe that's not safe, there's a question." He also cited the Arkansas murder investigation case in which police are seeking voice recordings captured on an Amazon Echo device (see 1701060025). DelBene and Issa are both members of the House Judiciary Committee, which jointly issued a report with the House Commerce Committee, against weakening encryption (see 1612200073 and 1612210005).