Washington, D.C. — TechNet, the national,
bipartisan network of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives, today applauded
the House Judiciary Committee for approving a legislative update to the
outdated Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and urged the
full House and Senate to pass this critical legislation as quickly as possible.
“Our nation’s electronic communications
privacy laws are seriously out of date,” said Linda Moore,
president and CEO of TechNet. “These
laws were last updated in 1986, at a time when the modern Internet and the
‘cloud’ did not exist.”
“Today, the House Judiciary Committee took a major step toward
updating these laws. The bill approved
by the committee today makes clear that the warrant standard of the U.S.
Constitution applies to private digital information just as it applies to
physical property. It also ends
ECPA’s arbitrary ‘180-day rule,’ which permits email communications to be
obtained without a warrant after 180 days.
And, it ensures that a document stored in the cloud receives the same
protections that it would if it were stored under user control.
“On behalf of TechNet, I thank the House Judiciary Committee for
approving this legislation. We urge the
full House and Senate to pass ECPA reform legislation as soon as possible.”
About TechNet
TechNet is the national,
bipartisan network of technology CEOs and senior executives that promotes the
growth of the innovation economy by advocating a targeted policy agenda at the
federal and 50-state level. TechNet’s
diverse membership includes dynamic startups to the most iconic companies on
the planet and represents more than two million employees in the fields of
information technology, e-commerce, advanced energy, biotechnology, venture
capital, and finance. TechNet has
offices in Washington, D.C., Silicon Valley, Sacramento, Seattle, Boston, and
Austin.