No GOP Senator Supports Bill to Protect Cloud E-Mail Privacy

No GOP Senator Supports Bill to Protect Cloud E-Mail Privacy

By David Kravets Email Author
October 17, 2011 |
7:11 pm |

Far-reaching privacy legislation introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) remains stalled for lack of GOP support.

Five months ago, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) introduced a bill to update the nation’s privacy laws to protect citizen’s data stored in the cloud from warrantless searches. The move was backed by tech powerhouses including Google and Microsoft, though law enforcement opposes restricting their power to easily get data in Gmail and Hotmail.

Five months later, the bill remains in the ether, without a hearing, for the lack of a single Republican senator backing Leahy’s measure to require police to get a warrant to search data stored on any online service if that data is older than six months.

“He is trying to shore up bipartisan support,” Erica Chabot, a Leahy spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview.

Friday is the 25-year anniversary of the law that Leahy’s bill would dramatically amend. Civil rights groups had been anticipating the anniversary celebration at the Capitol Congressional Visitors Center on Tuesday would include some announcement of advancement of the Leahy proposal.

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http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/10/epic-reform-stalled/