Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont introduced a bill Thursday that would stop authorities from snooping on people’s communications without a warrant.
The legislation, called the Electronic Communications Privacy Modernization Act, is essentially an update to an antiquated law with the same name, sans “modernization.”
The differences between the proposed law and the one already on the books, according a report uploaded by the lawmakers, is that access to remotely stored emails more than 180 days old require a warrant, rather than the current 90-day stipulation. Law enforcement often obtains the aforementioned personal information, like location data, through a separate, less arduous legal process.
“Americans don’t believe the federal government should have warrantless access to their emails just because they are 180 days old,” Lee stated. “They don’t believe the government should be able to always know where you are just because you are carrying a cell phone.”
The bill also mandates a “prompt” response to warrants, a somewhat vague distinction that will likely cause law enforcement officials to object to the bill on grounds that it hamstrings their investigatory powers.
Read more at:
http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/bipartisan-senators-introduce-bill-stop-police-snooping-people-without-warrant/
