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After a unanimous vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) will move onto the full Senate for a vote. According to The Hill: The bill, which is sponsored by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), was approved on a voice vote and now heads to the Senate floor. Under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986, police only need a subpoena, issued without a judge's approval, to read emails that have been opened or that are more than 180 days old.

The Newspaper Association of America applauds the Senate Judiciary Committee for passing a bill that would reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (S. 607), sponsored by Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. The strong bipartisan vote reflects the importance of requiring the government to obtain a warrant from a judge based on probable cause before seeking the contents of private electronic communications and documents stored by third-party service providers. “As more journalists move to the cloud – whether they use Web-based e-mail or document storage services – having a higher standard for government access to electronic content is critical to ensuring online privacy and protecting the integrity of the newsgathering process,” said NAA President and CEO Caroline Little. About NAA NAA is a nonprofit organization representing nearly…

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to update the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) to include private email as protected from law enforcement surveillance without a warrant. According to The New York Times: On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed a measure that would require the government to get a search warrant, issued by a judge, to gain access to personal e-mails and all other electronic content held by a third-party service provider. The bill still needs the approval of the full Senate. The current statute requires a warrant for e-mails that are less than six months old. But it lets the authorities gain access to older communications — or bizarrely, e-mails that have already been opened — with just a subpoena and no judicial review. The law…

When the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) was signed into law in 1986, it was effective in providing privacy for American citizens. Today, however, the methods of electronic communication have changed, and today’s Senate Judiciary Committee vote to update ECPA reflects that reality. According to Wired: Initially, ECPA provided privacy to users, but that privacy protection eroded as technology advanced and people began storing e-mail and documents on servers for longer periods, sometimes indefinitely. The act was adopted at a time when e-mail wasn’t stored on servers for a long time, but instead was held briefly on its way to the recipient’s inbox. E-mail more than 6 months old was assumed abandoned. “I think Americans are very concerned about unwarranted intrusions into our cyber lives,” [Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick] Leahy…