Lawmakers made quick work of approving long-stalled legislation that enhances privacy protections for emails and digital documents stored in the cloud.
Stagnant for years, the Email Privacy Act passed the House without opposition on Wednesday, less than two weeks after the body’s Judiciary Committee also approved the measure in a unanimous vote.
The legislation would require the government to obtain a warrant before accessing an individual’s stored digital effects, updating a thirty-year old Reagan-era computer surveillance law. The 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) contained a loophole that allowed the government to access, without a warrant, private digital communications that were older than 180 days and stored on third party servers.
Civil law enforcement agencies lobbied heavily against the reform effort.
“Americans do have an expectation of privacy in their email accounts, “ Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kansas.), a cosponsor of the bill, said in remarks ahead of the vote.
Digital rights groups applauded the legislations passage. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called it a “win for user privacy.”
The American Civil Liberties Union pointed to the Email Privacy Act’s 315 cosponsors to prod the Senate to take up a companion bill.
“The level of bipartisan support for this bill is a reflection of public’s strong belief that the government must respect and protect privacy rights in the digital age,” said ACLU legislative counsel Neema Singh Guliani in a statement.
“Now it’s the Senate’s turn to pass this important bill and strengthen it by including a requirement that the government inform people when it forces companies to turn over their information,” she added.
Sens. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) have already introduced companion legislation called the ECPA Amendments Act. It has attracted only 26 cosponsors, and remains stalled in the upper chamber’s judiciary committee.
“Wow! The House just passed the #EmailPrivacyAct 419-0. It’s time for the Senate to protect the privacy of Americans’ online communications.“ Sen. Lee tweeted following the vote.
