Sen Leahy introduces update to electronic privacy law

Sen Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced a benchmark bill to amend the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which he authored in 1986.The ECPA Amendments Act of 2011 aims to bring the current law up to date on the issues surrounding electronic privacy.

The new legislation would:

• require a search warrant showing probable cause to look at e-mail and other electronic communications,
• eliminates the “180-day rule” which mandates the government only obtain warrants for unopened e-mails that have been stored for 180 days or less,
• require the government to obtain a warrant or court order issued under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to access location data from a smartphone or electronic communications device,
• make it legal for agencies to delay notifying someone that the government has accessed their electronic communications if that disclosure would harm national security, and
• create a limited exception to the nondisclosure requirements to allow service providers to tell the government or a third party important information in the event of a cyber attack.