ECPA, the law on the protection of electronic communications, was discussed by the Judicial Committee of the United US House Tuesday. The law was originally passed in 1986, allows the government (law enforcement) to access digital communications such as emails, without a warrant if they have been stored for more than 6 months.
ECPA is strongly outdated given how much technology and digital communications have changed since 1986, and the hearing was long overdue. The testimonies were made by the SEC, the US attorneys and the FBI, as well as supporters of the law as Google and the Center for Democracy and Technology. As reported by The Dot Daily, the reform of privacy online is widely desired - with the support of 85% of Americans and 86% of Democrats and Republications support for reform ECPA
proposed reform includes requirement for the government to use. justify access to all online communications - regardless of their date. As explained by The Hill, when the bill was written, the long-term electronic storage was "unrealistic" and cloud storage did not exist. Although many are in favor of the reform, some organizations (eg SEC) are not in favor of the proposed updates as they seek increased (rather than decreased) access to communications.
Comments on both sides of Tuesday's hearing include:
"While most problems take months to get public support, the ECPA update is ready for action, "said the fourth digital Coalition in a statement announcing the survey results." It is clear from our results that Americans want online privacy policy to be updated and respond to the message that these laws were written before most people had e-mails and reliable Internet access. "
" It is important that our laws keep pace with evolving technology to we protect our constitutional rights in the digital age, "court president Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said in a statement. "It is also imperative that law enforcement has a viable law to conduct investigations so that it can protect our communities."
A Golden Frog, we strongly for reform ECPA. We recently traveled to Washington DC to share our views on the issue. We have also recently described our position on ECPA in a blog post. We will be closely watching ECPA progresses to vote, and we hope it will finally be reformed to specifically prevent eavesdropping and government intrusion and protect Internet communications in the digital world.
Sources :. Information included in this article is the hill, the Daily Dot, the Washington post and EFF
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