The U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously today to pass H.R. 699, the Email Privacy Act, closing a loophole that allowed law enforcement authorities to obtain old email and other digital communications without a warrant from the court. While a warrant was required to obtain information, Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) imposed a “180-day rule,” which permitted electronic communications to be seized without a warrant after 180 days. Supporters of the legislation say it is needed to update a decades-old law. Technology companies and privacy advocates say that statute was written before the rise of the Internet and so is outdated.
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