CBO Scores the E-mail Privacy Act

The E-mail Privacy Act (HR 699) would amend the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-508) to change current law relating to the privacy of certain personal communications. The bill also would change the procedures that government agencies must follow when requiring providers of remote computing services or electronic communication services to disclose stored communications. Many of those changes are technical in nature.

CBO estimates that enacting the bill would have no significant cost to the federal government. Enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that enacting HR 699 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027. HR 699 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.