House Unanimously Passes Polis's Email Privacy Act

Statement

Today, the Email Privacy Act (H.R. 699) unanimously passed the United States House of Representatives. Co-authored by Reps. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Kevin Yoder (R-KS) the legislation compiled wide bipartisan support - over 300 co-sponsors - making it one of the most popular bills in Congress. The Email Privacy Act would update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) to state that all government agencies must get a warrant to search Americans' online communications, regardless of when the email was crafted. In 1986, Congress passed ECPA, which contains a loophole that allows the government to search any email older than 180 days stored on a third-party server without a warrant.

"Today is a major step forward to protect our civil liberties," Polis said. "Citizens should no longer be at risk of having their emails warrantlessly searched by government agencies. The Email Privacy Act will update our archaic privacy laws for the 21st century and safeguard our Fourth Amendment rights. I'm proud that the House has passed this commonsense bill, and I look forward to a swift passage in the Senate."

"The level of bipartisan support for this bill is a reflection of public's strong belief that the government must respect and protect privacy rights in the digital age," Neema Singh Guliani, Legislative Counsel for American Civil Liberties Union said. "Now it's the Senate's turn to pass this important bill and strengthen it by including a requirement that the government inform people when it forces companies to turn over their information."

"With the rise of cloud computing, our emails, photos, and texts are stored with third parties. In order for the law to keep up with technology and users' reasonable expectation of privacy, that information must be protected by a search warrant," said Chris Calabrese, Vice President of Policy at the Center for Democracy & Technology. "The Email Privacy Act does just that, assuring that the content of our digital communications receives the same protections as information that is stored in our homes."

"The House of Representatives' passage of the Email Privacy Act (H.R. 699) is a decisive victory for Internet users, who deserve the highest privacy protections when governmental entities seek access to their data," Richard Salgado, Director, Law Enforcement and Information Security, Google said. "The overwhelming vote for the Email Privacy Act is a testament to the broad bipartisan support for this common sense reform. Representatives Yoder (R-Kan.), Polis (D-Colo.), Goodlatte (R-Va.), and Conyers (D-Mich.) have been real leaders in helping to shepherd this important bill through the House of Representatives."

"We thank Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) for their leadership on the Email Privacy Act. This law keeps Americans' expectation of privacy on pace with technology," said Nicole Mortier, Director, Federal Government Affairs, Yahoo.

Polis's Email Privacy Act would:

Affirm that Americans have reasonable expectation of privacy in their email accounts and other personal and professional content stored online.

Require the government to get a search warrant based on a showing of probable cause in order to compel a service provider to disclose communications that are not readily accessible to the public with -- regardless of the age of the communications or the means of their storage

Preserve the legal tools necessary to conduct criminal investigations and protect the public (Nothing in the bill alters warrant requirements under the Wiretap Act, FISA, or any other law)

On April 26th, several civil society organizations, companies, and trade associations wrote a letter to Members of Congress urging further support and immediate passage of the Email Privacy Act. Currently, a Senate version of the Email Privacy Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Amendments Act of 2015 (S.356) was introduced by Senators Patrick Lehy (D-VT) and Mike Lee (R-UT).

Polis, the founder of several startups and tech companies, including ProFlowers.com and Techstars, has been a leader on technology and privacy issues since joining Congress in 2009.

He's been a leading co-sponsor of many bills aimed at defending the open Internet and protecting individuals' right to privacy, including: the Student Digital Privacy and Parental Rights Act, the most significant federal attempt to protect student data in decades, the SPEAK FREE Act, which would enhance free speech protection for consumers on the Internet, and the Breaking Down Barriers to Innovation Act, which would reform outdated provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Last year, Polis successfully passed an amendment through the House of Representatives prohibiting unwarranted bulk surveillance by the Department of Justice.

In addition to his legislative track-record, he's been at the forefront of educating lawmakers about open source technology, digital currencies, and the challenges facing start-ups across the nation.

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