Should Law Enforcement Have to Get a Warrant Before Searching Your Email? (S. 1654)

What is S. 1654?

(Updated February 8, 2021)

This bill would require law enforcement agencies to get a warrant before digging into your information from Internet service providers.

Investigating parties would also have to give a copy of the warrant to the customer they are checking out ten days in advance. The government can, however, apply for an order to extend the period of time before the customer is informed. The bill does not prevent government officials from obtaining information about a person’s location.

Argument in favor

Personal emails, text messages, and other files in the cloud should have the same Fourth Amendment privacy protections as paper communications.

Argument opposed

Blocking the government from accessing suspicious electronic communications poses a threat to individual and national security.

Impact

People who use the Internet and store information in the cloud, all those scandalous emails, people involved in electronic communications investigations, law enforcement officials, and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

Cost of S. 1654

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has introduced or cosponsored this legislation in the last two congresses, and in a press release announcing its reintroduction in the 115th Congress Lee said:

"The Electronic Communications Protect Act was written 30 years ago before the widespread use of email. Americans now expect that their email communications will have the same privacy protections as their written communications. This bill would provide common sense protection."

The bill has received wide bipartisan support in the past. On the other hand, many critics have pointed out that this bill does not ensure total privacy online. While the government would be barred from freely accessing the content of online communication — investigators would still be able to obtain information about a customer’s communications, including names, locations, and addresses after they get a warrant.

Currently, this bill has the bipartisan support of seven cosponsors in the Senate, including four Democrats and three Republicans.

A companion bill in the House was passed in February on a unanimous voice vote.During the last Congress the legislation passed the House unanimously on a 419-0 vote but wasn't considered in the Senate. That version of it was also one of the most popular bills on Countable, gaining the support of 94 percent of users.

Of Note: The Electronic Communications Privacy Act has not been updated since 1986. Under current law, the federal government can access your personal electronic communications — including emails, text messages, and documents stored on online servers without a warrant:

"Law enforcement officials don’t need to obtain a warrant for emails, documents or items stored digitally in the cloud, as long as they are older than 180 days. Instead, they can nab the data with a subpoena, which does not come from a court and is often easier to obtain."

Media: