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Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., has secured bipartisan support for her proposal to bolster privacy protections for emails and other personalized digital records.

 

On Monday, Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, announced his support for the measure, while Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are jointly backing a companion bill in the Senate.

 

Though DelBene has been pushing for the adoption of the Email Privacy Act over a number of Congresses, her proposal is now gaining momentum as debate ratchets up over the possible renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

 

Long controversial, Section 702, which allows the U.S. government to conduct targeted surveillance on non-U.S. persons located outside the country, is set to expire on June 12.

 

Privacy advocates in both the House and Senate object to Section 702 because while targeting foreign adversaries, the federal government often also sweeps up the communications of law-abiding Americans.

 

The disagreement over the fate of the section and the powers it bestows, has often led to heated debates over privacy and civil liberties.

 

Bipartisan support for DelBene’s bill appears to be growing in direct proportion to the number of members who want to avoid further angry exchanges.

 

If passed, the measure would protect Americans’ digital communications by requiring warrants to access emails regardless of when the message originated.

 

The bill also includes provisions that will allow email providers such as Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail, iCloud, etc., to notify users when their data has been accessed, and updates voluntary disclosure language.

 

“The current law governing online privacy standards is egregiously out of date, leaving millions of Americans’ private communications and data vulnerable,” DelBene said in a written statement on Monday. 

 

“Our laws must reflect the capabilities of modern technology rather than being stuck in the past,” she said.

 

Currently, law enforcement can obtain private email communications older than 180 days without a warrant because the law is based on outdated storage capabilities. 

 

Congress passed the Electronic Communications Privacy Act in the 1980s to establish email privacy standards. In the four decades since, usage and storage of email have evolved significantly, underscoring how behind the U.S. is in digital privacy more broadly.

 

DelBene is advocating for personal email communications to be protected with the same level of security as physician documents.

 

“This bill makes critical changes that will update email privacy standards and modernize Americans’ civil liberties,” she said.

 

For his part, Davidson said signing on to support the measure was a no-brainer.

 

“The Fourth Amendment is clear: the government must get a warrant before searching an individual’s private property, including written communications,” he said. 

 

“As today’s world has grown increasingly digital, that principle should apply just as strongly to an email inbox as it does to a desk drawer or file cabinet,” Davidson continued. 

 

“That’s exactly why I’m proud to cosponsor the Email Privacy Act — to ensure our freedoms carry into the digital world and that all communications are protected as the founders intended,” he said.

 

Wyden agreed.

 

“Right now, the only thing standing between the government and warrantless access to all of the old emails in your inbox is a federal appeals court decision,” he said. “That’s not good enough when it comes to Fourth Amendment protections for one of the fundamental forms of communication right now.”

 

“This legislation brings the Electronic Communications Privacy Act into line with the realities of the 21st century,” Lee said.

 

The proposed legislation is endorsed by the ACLU, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, Association for Competitive Technology, Center for Democracy & Technology, Computer & Communications Industry Association, Consumer Choice Center, Consumer Technology Association, Demand Progress, Due Process Institute, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Engine, Fight for the Future, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Institute for Policy Innovation, Internet Infrastructure Coalition, i2Coalition, NetChoice, Project On Government Oversight, R Street Institute, Restore the Fourth, Software & Information Industry Association, TechFreedom and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

 

DelBene is also the author of the Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act, legislation she originally proposed in 2021 to create a national data privacy standard. 

 

The congresswoman introduced that bill after realizing that with no federal data privacy law in place, states were pursuing their own consumer privacy policies, resulting in a confusing patchwork of regulations.

 

“A national standard is necessary to establish a uniform set of rights for consumers and create one set of rules for businesses to operate in,” she said more than five years ago.

 

Since then, the stack of state regulations coast to coast has only grown taller and more confounding.

 

The Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act would protect personal information including data relating to financial, health, genetic, biometric, geolocation, sexual orientation, citizenship and immigration status, Social Security numbers and religious beliefs.

 

Among other things, the bill would enable users to “opt-in” before companies can use their most sensitive private information in ways they might not expect, require companies to disclose if and with whom their personal information will be shared and the purpose of sharing the information, and give the  Federal Trade Commission enhanced rulemaking authority to keep up with evolving digital trends and the ability to fine bad actors on the first offense. 

 

The bill would also empower state attorneys general to pursue violations if the FTC chooses not to act on them, and require companies to submit privacy audits every two years from a neutral third party. 

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