House members eye e-mail, location data protection with bill

Reps Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and Ted Poe (R-TX) are introducing the Online Communications and Geolocation Protection Act, which would update a nearly three-decade-old law they say has not kept pace with technology, and which would require a warrant to obtain someone's email or location information.

"Fourth Amendment protections don't stop at the Internet, and Americans rightly expect constitutional protections to extend to their online communications and location data," Rep Lofgren said. The proposal would update the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which currently allows law enforcement to access email and other electronic content without a warrant if that information is more than 180 days old. Only a subpoena is currently required.