Papers in Your Desk Have More Protection than Those in Your Inbox

In 1989, my master’s thesis, in part, argued that the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 should protect emails and other communications stored on a server in perpetuity, not just those stored for less than 180 days. I also stressed that stored communications should not be accessed by any law enforcement organizations unless a criminal warrant (and not just a subpoena) is secured. Unfortunately, though there has been progress, the recommendations have not been adopted.

The recently-introduced Email Privacy Act goes far in bringing these standards into effect, especially since so much data is now stored on YouTube, Dropbox, and Facebook. The Email Privacy Act, which requires a probable cause warrant for all digital communications held on cloud servers no matter how old they are, was passed by the House of Representatives by an overwhelming majority last year, but stalled in the Senate and was eventually withdrawn when amendments to weaken it were introduced.

While some groups, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, would like to have the government secure a warrant for obtaining geolocation information, I believe that this provision would thwart law enforcement from stopping trolls who post threats using mobile devices. Obtaining a subpoena is a sufficient safeguard.

In 2017, it is time to bring the privacy of electronic communications into the present, offering protection that is in line with fundamental and current needs.