Bill requiring warrants for email searches hits magic number in House (a step closer to EU...)

A bill to prevent law enforcement officials without warrants from accessing private email accounts is now backed by the majority of the House.

The Email Privacy Act from Reps. Kevin Yoder (R-Kans.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) gained its 218th cosponsor late on Tuesday, giving the sponsors hope that the bill could move this year.

“Having a majority of house members supporting our bill shows House leadership that the bill would pass … if it was put on the house floor,” Yoder said in an interview with The Hill.

That is “a critical component” of making the case to leadership to bring the bill to the floor, he continued.

The proposal would update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which allows law enforcement agencies to access electronic communications that have been stored for 180 days without a warrant.

Critics of the law often note that this 1986 law means emails don’t receive the same Fourth Amendment protections as physical letters stored in filing cabinets, which require a warrant to access.

Yoder said his bill addresses “such a clear issue that has such a simple fix.” 


The sponsors have been talking with House leadership and House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) about moving the bill forward, according to Yoder.

“Everyone is very supportive.”


By Kate Tummarello
read full article at The Hill http://thehill.com/policy/technology/209730-house-email-privacy-bill-hits-magic-number