CCAGW Supports Senate Efforts to Protect Online Privacy

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) issued a statement in support of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy’s (D-Vt.) amendment to H.R. 2471, which the committee will consider on Thursday. Chairman Leahy’s amendment would revise the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which would protect sensitive personal and proprietary communications stored in “the cloud.”

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) was passed in 1986, long before widespread use of the Internet. At that time, most congressional offices used typewriters for correspondence, and every letter, memo and communication had to be typed in triplicate in order to keep a record. It was unlikely that the drafters of the law had a full understanding of how commonplace the use of email and the digital off-site storage of data would become.

While ECPA does provide some protection from government access to remotely-held information, it does not provide sufficient protection for email, mobile phone location information, or instant messages. Chairman Leahy’s amendment would update ECPA by requiring, except in emergencies or other clarified exceptions, that the government obtain a warrant in order to compel a service provider to disclose the content of emails, texts, or other private material stored by service providers on behalf of their users.

“As co-host of the Privacy Working Group with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, CCAGW has long been concerned about privacy policy and online safety,” said CCAGW President Tom Schatz. “Private information stored online should be as safe from unreasonable search and seizure as the same type of information stored in any filing cabinet or desk. On behalf of concerned taxpayers and consumers everywhere, CCAGW applauds Chairman Leahy’s efforts to preserve privacy in the digital age, and we urge the rest of the Judiciary Committee to follow suit.”

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.