Press Releases

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and Congressman Tom Marino (R-PA) introduced the bipartisan and bicameral International Communications Privacy Act (ICPA) today. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Chris Coons (D- DE) and Dean Heller (R-NV) introduced identical legislation in the Senate. Reps. DelBene and Marino introduced similar legislation last year, H.R. 1174, the Law Enforcement Access to Data Stored Abroad Act (LEADS Act), which also focused on addressing the conflict between cross border data flows and law enforcement requests for electronic communications.

The International Communications Privacy Act provides a common sense solution to the complicated questions surrounding international data storage and lawful government access to that data. ICPA will modernize the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), based on the recognition that today’s technology is global and our laws must reflect that reality. This bill will modernize our laws to establish a rule of law on lawful access to data in the global environment.

Reps. DelBene and Marino released the following statement:

“We were pleased that the LEADS Act gained such widespread support with more than 130 cosponsors in the House. ICPA improves upon this effort by broadening industry recognition, and we believe it will earn an even greater backing from our colleagues in Congress. This bill guarantees that users of technology have confidence that their privacy rights will be protected by due process while simultaneously ensuring law enforcement agencies have necessary access to information through a clear, legal framework to keep us safe.”

On Feb. 25, 2016, the House Judiciary Committee examined the issues addressed by ICPA during a hearing entitled “International Conflicts of Law Concerning Cross Broder Data Flows and Law Enforcement Requests.” Witnesses included present and former government officials, executives from supportive industry groups and legal academics.

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