Surveillance

H.R.387 – Email Privacy Act

Official Title as Introduced:

To amend title 18, United States Code, to update the privacy protections for electronic communications information that is stored by third-party service providers in order to protect consumer privacy interests while meeting law enforcement needs, and for other purposes.

Partial Text:

“SEC. 3. Amendments to required disclosure section.

Section 2703 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

(1) by striking subsections (a) through (c) and inserting the following:

“(a) Contents of wire or electronic communications in electronic storage.—Except as provided in subsections (i) and (j), a governmental entity may require the disclosure by a provider of electronic communication service of the contents of a wire or electronic communication that is in electronic storage with or otherwise stored, held, or maintained by that service only if the governmental entity obtains a warrant issued using the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (or, in the case of a State court, issued using State warrant procedures) that—

“(1) is issued by a court of competent jurisdiction; and

“(2) may indicate the date by which the provider must make the disclosure to the governmental entity.”

Bill explanation via the App ‘Countable’:

“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.”