House Votes Unanimously In Favor Of Requiring A Warrant To Search Emails
from the yay! dept
The push to reform ECPA -- the Electronic Communications Privacy Act -- have been going on basically as long as this site has been in existence (i.e. nearly 20 years). There are lots of problems with ECPA, but the big one that everyone points to is that it considers any communication that's on a server more than 180 days to be "abandoned" and accessible without a warrant. That perhaps made some amount of sense back in 1986 when the law was written, because everything was client-server and you downloaded your email off the server. But in an age of cloud computing and webmail it makes no sense at all. Still, the IRS and the SEC really, really liked the ability to use ECPA to snoop on people's emails.In the past few years, Congress has kept supporting reform, but it always dies when some part of the administration complains and tries to block it. And yet, each time it enters Congress, it gets more and more sponsors. And, finally, the full House has voted to pass the Email Privacy Act. It was no surprise that it passed. The bill had an astounding 315 cosponsors. Seriously:
The bill is certainly not perfect, and could be improved, but it's nice to see the House get the basics right. Now, we wait and see what happens in the Senate... Will the Senate ignore a unanimous House and let this bill just die, or will it finally do the right thing and protect email privacy?
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Filed Under: 4th amendment, congress, ecpa, ecpa reform, email, house, kevin yoder, privacy, warrant
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'lisbeth, 'lisbeth, get the cloud ready, i'm comin to meet you, darlin' ! ! !
kongresskritters doing something (ANYTHING) constructive that ALSO benefits the 99% ? ? ?
i am dreaming...
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Self-interest is a powerful motivator
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Re: Self-interest is a powerful motivator
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Re: Re: Self-interest is a powerful motivator
The critters don't last long if they don't learn to protect themselves!
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Re: Self-interest is a powerful motivator
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Re: Re: Self-interest is a powerful motivator
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I say this because I have a memory of something called 'the past fifteen goddamn years'.
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A post that accidentally turned into verse.
What impetus but reason, for their reason be ruse.
To this condition how?
What clock renders it now?
They are not all pissed,
but today it is popular to be populist?
Decades of constitutional duties derided,
not a mind decided until this very moment?
So that a squeak not a fight,
twas all it took to set reason aflight?
There was no rush before the setting sun.
No fight, no shout, no great debate.
There shall be no move soon or late,
that won't be forestalled but one!
To prevent credit for low hanging fruit,
from ever reaching the servants of POTUS new.
It was sat on in turn for years or more,
by legislative squat cobbler troubadours.
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Yeah, Okay
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Backed up on the "server"
Not really, they all just figured out that their porn selfies are all backed up on the "server".
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In all fairness, how often do you go back and look at--or even care about--mail over 6 months old on your webmail account? It might as well be "abandoned," realistically speaking, no matter where it's stored, no?
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If you had a box of old files in your closet that you hadn't opened in over 6 months, you think it'd be fine for police to come snoop around in there?
Are secrets older than 6 months not a secret any more because you haven't told anyone?
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Similarly just because someone hasn't chosen to go through and delete old emails doesn't mean they should be up for grabs to any police or government agent who may want to look through them.
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