In the News

A bill aimed at modernizing the United States's aging law covering law enforcement access to emails and other stored files passed the House Monday night. 

The current law, known as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, allows law enforcement to access any stored files without a warrant if such material is left on a third-party server for more than 180 days. But that law was passed in 1986 — three years before the invention of the internet — when computer owners did not have the same systems as modern users, such as cloud hosting, webmail and online photo galleries.

The Email Privacy Act, which passed under suspension of the rules Monday, alters the previous rule to universally require warrants for such information. The same bill cleared the House in 2016 on an overwhelming 419-0 vote, but it stalled in the Senate. 

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