Email Privacy Act Protects Americans in Digital Age
Today, by a voice vote, the House passed the Email Privacy Act, a bipartisan bill led by New Dem Vice-Chairs Jared Polis (CO-02) and Suzan DelBene (WA-01). This bipartisan bill, highlighted in the New Democrat Coalition Prosperity Agenda: Winning the Future, modernizes America’s digital privacy laws by establishing protections against warrantless searches of private emails. All present New Dem Members supported this bill which was co-sponsored New Dem Chair Jim Himes, New Dem Vice-Chair Derek Kilmer, and New Dem Members Tony Cardenas, Gerry Connolly, Annie Kuster, Kathleen Rice, and Cedric Richmond.
The Email Privacy Act would update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) so that all government agencies must obtain a warrant to search Americans’ online communications. Previously, under ECPA, emails older than 180 days stored on a third-party server could be obtained without a warrant. The Email Privacy Act will also protect information stored in the cloud, aligning outdated policies with changes in current Department of Justice and FBI policies that require law enforcement to obtain a warrant.
“By passing this law unanimously, it’s crystal clear that Americans expect privacy protections for their emails,” said New Democrat Coalition Vice-Chair Jared Polis. “It’s unacceptable that while technology has progressed from the floppy disk to the cloud, email privacy laws remain stuck in a decade where dial-up Internet was the standard. The Email Privacy Act will update these archaic laws for the 21st century, and protect Americans’ right to privacy. The public shouldn’t have to wait any longer for basic privacy protections to be applied to their emails.”
“Updating our laws to reflect the way the world works in the 21st century has been one of my top priorities in Congress. When current law affords more protections for a letter in a filing cabinet than an email on a server, it’s clear our policies are woefully outdated,” New Democrat Coalition Vice-Chair DelBene said. “I’ve supported a number of different proposals to reform our electronic privacy laws and will continue to push for those, but today’s passage of the Email Privacy Act is a great step forward for Americans’ civil liberties. Now it’s up to the Senate to act and ensure Americans are guaranteed the privacy protections most think they already have.”
“This bipartisan bill, which has broad support from lawmakers, conservative and liberal groups, tech companies, and civil liberties organizations will ensure that the American people are afforded their due Constitutional protections,” said New Democrat Coalition Chair Jim Himes. “The New Democrats are leaders in cybersecurity and online privacy, and pragmatic legislation like this is a smart way to move the ball forward in these areas. I’m grateful to Reps. Polis and DelBene for leading the effort.”
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