It's not just the NSA: down to the level of local law enforcement, your emails aren't safe from the government. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act, a law passed in the 1980s, purports to allow government agents to collect private emails without a probable cause warrant. Take action today to demand a digital upgrade to our privacy law.
If those same emails were printed out and on your desk, the government would be forced to get a warrant. But our constitutional freedoms shouldn't change whether our papers are printed or stored on our computer. And in 2010, the Sixth circuit agreed. In United States v. Warshak, a leading case in which EFF participated as amicus, the court affirmed that people had a reasonable expectation of privacy in their email, even if it is stored with a service provider.
It's time for Congress to follow Warshak's lead. The Email Privacy Act is how that happens. The bill ensures the government must obtain a probable cause warrant to access your emails and other communications online. So far it has over 170 cosponsors in the House, but we need 218 in order for the bill to get the attention of Congressional leaders.
Tell your representative now: Cosponsor HR 1852, The Email Privacy Act, and support my digital rights.
Parker Higgins
Activist
Electronic Frontier Foundation