Senate Judiciary Passes Electronic Privacy Update

Would protect info stored in the cloud

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/29/2012 11:57:39 AM

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed an update of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) on Thursday, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which called it "an important gain for privacy."

The legislation, introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), updates the ECPA, passed 25 years ago, to require law enforcement to get a search warrant to access emails, social network posts and other info stored in the cloud.

"We are very happy that the committee voted that all electronic content like emails, photos and other communications held by companies like Google and Facebook should be protected with a search warrant," said ACLU legislative counsel Chris Calabrese. "We believe law enforcement should use the same standard to search your inbox that they do to search your home."