ACT | The App Association is proud to celebrate Data Privacy Data – a day dedicated to promoting the protection of users’ privacy online. While we advocate for strong privacy protections everyday of the year, today we recognize those who have done exemplary work in this area, and identify places where we see need for improvement.
To begin, there’s the outdated Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). Enacted in 1986, the law governing the privacy of online data was drafted before most Americans had ever heard of email. Most notably, the law allows warrantless search of electronic communications after 180 days. So, those emails, text messages, cloud-stored notes and photos from six months ago – the government can legally access any of that … sans warrant. Requiring an update is an understatement – it needs to be overhauled now. Senators Mike Lee and Patrick Leahy will be reintroducing their ECPA reform legislation in the coming weeks.
This brings us to a bill introduced last fall by Senators Orrin Hatch, Chris Coons, and Dean Heller called the Law Enforcement Access to Data Stored Abroad Act (LEADS). The idea behind the bill is that law enforcement should not have the power to issue warrants for data that resides outside the United States. The law would go a long way to protect cloud providers and software developers from foreign legal liability stemming from a U.S. warrant. Passage of this bill would strengthen consumer privacy rights and clearly define the limits of law enforcement.
So as Data Privacy Day draws to a close, we are happy to see organizations and groups around the world recognize the importance of strong privacy protections – and are reminded of all the work we have to do on this issue for the other 364.