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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

Help Bring Privacy Laws Into 21st Century

Summary: The Electronic Communications Privacy Act, a 1986 statute written before the commercial Internet, lets federal and local authorities obtain mobile phone and many email records without a court-issued warrant, including emails older than 180 days and any opened email, via subpoena issued by a prosecutor or FBI agent rather than a judge. Companion bills S. 607 and H.R. 1852 would require a probable-cause warrant for cloud-stored content, and CDT's Mark Stanley says movement is being blocked by an SEC proposal for a carve-out letting regulatory agencies obtain communications from online providers without a warrant.

What you should know: Seven major wireless carriers told Senator Edward Markey they answered at least 1.1 million law enforcement requests last year, including 9,000 tower dumps covering all phones that connected to a cell site in a given period - and under current ECPA interpretation, data you keep on your own laptop needs a warrant while the same data held by a provider does not.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Privacy
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