Email Privacy Act Would Safeguard Privacy by Closing Long-Outdated Legal Loophole

WASHINGTON—The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a leading science and tech policy think tank, today released the following statement from Daniel Castro, ITIF vice president, welcoming introduction of the Email Privacy Act by Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-KS) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO):

This legislation provides an obvious and long-needed fix to protect Americans’ privacy and Fourth Amendment protections. Rules on how the government can access electronic communications in criminal investigations have simply not kept up with advances in modern technology. Indeed, U.S. law still treats data stored in the cloud differently than data stored on a local computer. Americans expect that their information will receive the same constitutional protections regardless of how it is stored, and this legislation will help bridge that divide.

The new Congress should make the Email Privacy Act a top legislative priority to safeguard the privacy and Fourth Amendment protections of Americans while still providing law enforcement with the tools it needs to enforce laws and protect public safety.