Bipartisan Senate Group Introduces Email Privacy Act; Praise From Industry, Privacy Advocates

A bipartisan group of senators introduced the Email Privacy Act that would require in all cases law enforcement agencies get a warrant to search Americans' emails and other communications stored by a third party. The bill, which the House unanimously passed earlier this year (see 1702070011), was introduced Thursday by Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Pat Leahy, D-Vt., both Judiciary Committee members who sponsored the same bill last year but withdrew it over a controversial amendment (see 1606090007). The new bill would update the three-decade-old Electronic Communications Privacy Act and would close a loophole that allows authorities to gain access to emails older than 180 days with just a subpoena. “Internet-era privacy reforms are long overdue" and the bill would "extend Fourth Amendment protections to emails and geolocation information stored in the cloud," said Computer & Communications Industry Association CEO Ed Black. TechFreedom President Berin Szoka said that without the ECPA update, states like California are stepping in. New America's Open Technology Institute and the Software & Information Industry Association also supported the bill. Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., Al Franken, D-Minn., Cory Gardner, R-Colo., Dean Heller. R-Nev., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., have also signed on.