The House Monday (Feb. 6) unanimously passed the E-mail Privacy Act.

A version of the bill, which boosts protections of information stored in the cloud, passed the House unanimously in the last session of Congress in April and supporters were hoping for clean passage in the Senate as well, but it was held over by the Senate Judiciary Committee after amendments were offered that could have undone a compromise approach.

The baseline bill updates the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to require the government to get a probable cause criminal warrant to access emails, social media posts and other online content stored in the cloud by internet service providers and other email service providers, like Google. In a nod to the longevity of cloud storage, it eliminates the 180-day sunset on stored communications. Previously a warrant was not required for communications stored beyond 180 days.

"If the government wants to read your emails, then they should be required to obtain a warrant just like they would need in order to read your letters, search your hard drive or listen in on your phone calls," said bill backer Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). Technology has made incredible advances over the years, but the privacy laws for digital communications just haven't kept pace. Right now, the rules governing how and when the government can access a person's emails, photos, documents and other online communications are outdated and do not provide for the same Fourth Amendment protections given to on-paper or in-person communications. The bill we've passed today is an important privacy safeguard that will help cement Americans' rights in the digital age."

“Today, the House took a major step forward in bringing our nation’s electronic communications privacy laws into the 21st century,” said Linda Moore, president of TechNet. “These laws haven’t been updated since 1986, and modernization is badly needed. TechNet applauds the House for sending a clear message that the U.S. Constitution applies to private digital information just as it applies to physical property. We urge the Senate to take up this legislation as soon as possible.”

"Updating our laws to reflect the way the world works in the 21st century has been one of my top priorities in Congress," said Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), who co-sponsored the reintroduction of the bill. "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 woefully outdated. I’ve supported a number of different proposals to reform our electronic privacy laws and will continue to push for those, but today’s passage of the Email Privacy Act is a great step forward for Americans’ civil liberties. Now it’s up to the Senate to act and ensure Americans are guaranteed the privacy protections most think they already have.”

“We applaud members of Congress for recognizing the need to clarify an important Constitutional protection for citizens in the digital age and expediting the passage of the Email Privacy Act," said Computer & Communications Industry Association Ed Black. "At a time when citizens’ private information and communications are usually stored online, these privacy protections are imperative—and long overdue. We now urge the Senate to take up and pass the Act."

"Support for constitutional protections, like requiring the government to get a warrant to read email, remain bipartisan. House leadership and the sponsors of the Email Privacy Act have made a powerful statement by moving the legislation so quickly in the new Congress," said Center for Democracy and Technology VP of policy Chris Calabrese. "The House has acted to protect Americans' privacy. Now it's up to the Senate and the President to do the same."

“Adobe applauds members of the House who voted overwhelmingly to protect the digital privacy rights of Americans by supporting the Email Privacy Act," the  company said in a statement. "The bill brings digital privacy protections into the 21st century, closing archaic loopholes that allow government agencies to access content stored with cloud service providers for more than 180 days without a warrant.  As a member of the Digital Due Process Coalition, Adobe believes the personal information of customers that is saved on our servers should have the same 4th Amendment protections as a paper document in a desk drawer.

"With such overwhelming bipartisan support in the House, the Senate should move quickly to approve the Email Privacy Act. Failure to update ECPA, which is more than 30 years old, could make the American technology sector less competitive to foreign rivals."

A bipartisan House contingent has re-introduced the Email Privacy Act, a bill that would require law enforcement to get a warrant before law enforcement could access ISP's digital records, such as e-mails and texts.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.), with the backing of Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.).

DelBene pointed out that among the bill's backers are the ACLU, Center for Democracy and Technology, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter.

Related: Email Privacy Act Gets Warm Reception

The House was not the problem with the bill last year. It was the Senate that couldn't agree on a way forward.

The bill passed the House unanimously in the last Congress, but was held over by the Senate Judiciary Committee after amendments were offered that could have undone a compromise approach

The bill updates the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to require the government to get a probable cause criminal warrant to access e-mails, social media posts and other online content stored in the cloud by Internet service providers and other e-mail service providers, like Google. In a nod to the longevity of cloud storage, it eliminates the 180-day sunset on stored communications. Previously a warrant was not required for communications stored beyond 180 days. It also allows providers to let their customers know when their data has been requested, though the government can seek a court order to delay that notification in special circumstances (the imminent threat of a terrorist attack, for example, or other immediate threats to life of property).

"After spending two decades in the technology sector where things evolve at light speed, it is hard to believe that we’re starting another year with laws that were written for how computing worked in the 1980s," said Del Bene. "Meanwhile, cloud-based services become more ubiquitous with every passing day, highlighting the absurdity that current law provides greater protections for a letter in a filing cabinet than an email on a server. The Email Privacy Act is an overdue step forward for protecting Americans’ civil liberties in the digital age."

Del Bene spent a dozen years at Microsoft, where she was corporate VP of mobile communications.

“The Fourth Amendment protects all of our 'papers and effects' against warrantless search and seizure from the moment that they’re created, but woefully outdated current law leaves the full content of all of our emails, texts, tweets and cloud-stored photos and documents open to warrantless search for six months after they’re created," said American Library Association President Julie Todaro. "Last year, both the House Judiciary Committee and House of Representatives unanimously passed the identical Email Privacy Act introduced today to close this gaping hole in Americans’ constitutional privacy rights, but the Senate was unable to act. ALA calls on both chambers of Congress to immediately enact and send this uniquely bipartisan and long-overdue update of our laws to the President in time for him to mark Data Privacy Day on January 28, 2017, by signing it into law.”            

“Our country has always respected the need to balance law enforcement interests with protections for citizens, so it’s no surprise that updating digital privacy law for this century has broad, bipartisan support," said Computer & Communications Industry Association President Ed Black. "Government access to communications without oversight of warrants is a dangerous path for any country that supports democratic values. We hope recent events and the desire to build a better spirit of cooperation will bring this legislation to an early vote this Congress. Cooperating to pass such a pro-democracy measure with broad support could help set the tone for better relations and trust between Democrats and Republicans and between citizens and government.”

“TechNet applauds Representatives Kevin Yoder and Jared Polis for reintroducing legislation that would make critical updates to our nation’s outdated electronic communications privacy laws,” said TechNet President Linda Moore. “These laws have not been updated since 1986 – a time when the modern Internet and the cloud did not exist.”

“The proposed legislation makes clear that the warrant standard of the U.S. Constitution applies to private digital information just as it applies to physical property. It also ends ECPA’s arbitrary ‘180-day rule,’ which permits email communications to be obtained without a warrant after 180 days. Additionally, it makes a key clarification that ensures a document stored in the cloud receives the same protections that it would if it were stored under user control.”

"Privacy Wins in a Landslide as House Passes Email Privacy Act." That was the headline on the e-mailed reaction of the Center for Democracy & Technology to the passage of a House bill that would protect the privacy of e-mails and other online communications, regardless of where they were stored or how long.

The Electronic Privacy Act's unanimous passage drew a chorus of cheers and applause from various groups.

"This legislation is a long overdue remedy to the loopholes in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) that treat data stored in the cloud differently than data stored on a local computer," said the information Technology and Innovation Foundation. "Americans expect that their data will receive Fourth Amendment protections regardless of the means used to store it, and this legislation will help bridge that divide.

"We are pleased to see the House of Representatives taking this bipartisan step to safeguard the privacy and Fourth Amendment protections of Americans without compromising law enforcement’s ability to prosecute and solve crimes. We hope the Senate will follow suit."

“The House took a big and much needed step to bring citizens’ online privacy protections into the 21st Century. With more and more personal information and communication stored online, it is imperative that emails have the same Constitutional protections from government intrusion as a letter stored in a file cabinet," said Computer & Communications Industry Association President Ed Black. “The Email Privacy Act, which would require the government to seek a warrant to access citizens’ email, will enshrine a bright-line rule for law enforcement requests nationwide.

Importantly, the standard does not include a carveout for civil agencies, though it was amended in the House Judiciary Committee. As the bill moves on to the Senate, we encourage stakeholders to further strengthen the privacy protections it contains.

“Privacy reform has waited long enough. We commend the House for its actions today and urge the Senate to quickly take up and pass the Email Privacy Act. ”

There was more urging of the Senate from the ACLU.

“The level of bipartisan support for this bill is a reflection of public’s strong belief that the government must respect and protect privacy rights in the digital age," said Neema Singh Guliani, ACLU legislative counsel. "Now it’s the Senate’s turn to pass this important bill and strengthen it by including a requirement that the government inform people when it forces companies to turn over their information.”

"The House of Representatives definitively protected consumers' privacy today by empowering Americans to safely create, share and collect electronic data in a secure and private manner. We commend them for their leadership," said Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Technology Association

   "Passage of the Email Privacy Act will update the antiquated Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA), requiring the government to get a warrant before searching email, voicemail or text messages stored in the cloud. This legislation will eliminate the different requirements for cloud data, replacing them with a single standard so online communications are given the same privacy protections as physical mail. This helps instill confidence in consumers that personal data is legally protected, no matter where it is stored."

“Today, the House took a major step forward in bringing our nation’s electronic communications privacy laws into the 21st century,” said Linda Moore, president of TechNet.  “These laws haven’t been updated since 1986, and modernization is badly needed.  TechNet commends the House for sending a clear message that the U.S. Constitution applies to private digital information just as it applies to physical property.”

As expected, the House Wednesday (April 27) passed the E-Mail Privacy Act (HR 699).

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) pointed out that there were over 300 co-sponsors on the bill and praised the cooperation that produced a path forward for the bill. He urged the Senate to take up the bill ASAP.

Rep Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chair of the House Judiciary Committee took note of the fact that disparate points of view from law enforcement, stakeholders and civil society had come together on the bill.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) said federal agencies were currently invading the privacy of law-abiding citizens. He seconded Conyers call for swift Senate action.

Following 40 minutes of debate, the bill passed 419 to 0.

The House Judiciary Committee had unanimously approved the Email Privacy Act (EPA) earlier this month, which updates the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) to, among other things, require the government to get a warrant to access e-mails, social media posts and other online content stored by Internet service providers and other e-mail service providers--like Google.

And in a nod to the permanence of cloud storage, eliminates the 180-day sunset on stored communications. Previously a warrant was not required for communications stored beyond 180 days.

The Software & Information Industry Association applauded passage.

"“For consumers to feel safe with cloud computing, personal data stored remotely must have the same legal protection as data on their own computer," said SII SVP Mark MacCarthy. "House passage of ECPA reform brings us one step closer to leveling the playing field for government access to data stored in the cloud. The House-passed bill includes badly needed updates to ECPA’s 1980s-era provisions and will increase consumer trust hosted IT providers.

“The existing and outdated ECPA statute leaves providers and users with a baffling set of rules that are difficult to apply, especially as more and more information moves to the cloud. Today’s action begins to make important changes to address this, and we commend the leadership of Judiciary Chairman Goodlatte (R-Va.), and bill sponsors Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.).”