Press Releases

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) spoke in support of the Email Privacy Act, a bill to protect consumers’ privacy from unwarranted electronic data collection by the federal government.

“Advances in technology and the Internet have dramatically changed the way we communicate, live and work. In this constantly evolving world, Congress must ensure our laws at least keep pace,” DelBene said. “When current law affords more protections for a letter in a filing cabinet than an email on a server, it’s clear our policies are outdated. Today, opponents of the bill yet again failed to make a compelling case for why this critical legislation should not advance. I hope that the Committee will move the bill without further delay, and ensure Americans are guaranteed the privacy protections most think they already have.”

The Email Privacy Act (H.R. 699) introduced by Rep. Kevin Yoder (KS-03), has more than 300 House cosponsors and would modernize the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) by requiring government agencies to obtain a warrant to access emails. Current law allows law enforcement to obtain emails that have been stored by third party providers longer than 180 days without a warrant. DelBene has cosponsored several bills that aim to update ECPA to ensure Americans’ privacy is protected.

Video of DelBene’s remarks from the hearing can be found HERE.

# # #