OFF THE WIRE
By Nate Cardozo
Privacy is due for an upgrade. Today, the Electronic Frontier
Foundation joins a nationwide day of action calling for reform of the
Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), the 1986 law used by the
government to access your online documents, messages, and emails stored
in the cloud without a warrant.
ECPA is sorely outdated. It was enacted before web-based email became
ubiquitous and “the cloud” meant only airborne water vapor. The law
purports to allow for any opened emails or unopened emails left on a
server for more than 180 days to be treated like abandoned property.
Although the courts disagree,
some agencies believe that ECPA allows law enforcement to access stored
content with a mere subpoena. That interpretation created a senseless
distinction—law enforcement was required to meet a much lower standard
to access your saved webmail than the warrant standard that would be
required if the same emails were printed and stored in your file
cabinet. ECPA should not be used to bypass 4th Amendment protections that cover our personal email accounts, our social media messages, or anything else using cloud storage.
In the midst of the global outrage sparked by the 2013 revelations of
warrantless NSA surveillance, we've also learned that the National
Security Agency actively collaborates with the FBI
and other government agencies to access private emails and Internet
data stored by U.S. companies. Even if we are successful in reining in
the NSA's overly broad and unconstitutional surveillance, without ECPA
reform other government agencies could still claim the legal authority
to continue the massive collection of millions of innocent people's
personal communications and data without due process.
Bills to reform ECPA have gained huge bipartisan support. Earlier in the year, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to update our outdated electronic privacy law.
And now, a similar bill is being debated in the House. The problem is
that government agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission are
asking for a special carve out
permitting the agency to access email and data stored by Internet
service providers without a warrant. This exception, if granted, would
completely undermine meaningful, and much needed, ECPA reform.
EFF is a member of the Digital Due Process
coalition, a collection of tech companies, start-ups, privacy
advocates, and think tanks working to update ECPA to ensure that laws
continue to protect the rights of users as technologies advance and
usage patterns evolve. Today, please join us in demanding for
long-overdue updates to our archaic electronic privacy laws.
Speak out:
1. You can sign the White House Petition
calling on the Obama Administration to reject agency demands for
unjustified surveillance authority that would undermine critically
needed ECPA reform. Check out the privacy policy of the White House site
here.
2. You can send an email to your representatives in Congress using the EFF action center: Don't Let Privacy Law Get Stuck in 1986: Demand s Digital Upgrade to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act
