Electronic Privacy Act Turns 25; No Reason to Celebrate

http://www.pcworld.com/article/241998/electronic_privacy_act_turns_25_no_reason_to_celebrate.html


Electronic Privacy Act Turns 25; No Reason to Celebrate

By John P. Mello Jr., PCWorld Oct 16, 2011 12:55 PM

Technology has changed a lot since 1986, when the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) became law. Cell phones no longer look like bricks. Thirteen-pound laptops, such as the IBM PC Convertible with a processor running at 4.77 MHz and 256KB of memory, aren't considered svelte. We even have something called the World Wide Web, an unknown to cybernauts in that year.

Yet, the ECPA -- which sets the rules on how and when law enforcement agencies can access your electronic information -- has managed to be remarkably resistant to change since it became law 25 years ago on October 21. That's created some bizarre anomalies in the law. For example, e-mail that you've opened is treated differently from e-mail in transit to you. And all e-mail more than 180 days old is fair game for government snoops.

"The outdated Electronic Communications Privacy Act is allowing the government to engage in a shopping spree in the treasure trove of information about who you are, where you go, and what you do, that is being collected by cell phone providers, search engines, social networking sites, and other websites every day," the American Civil Liberties Union declares in a statement. "Online privacy law shouldn't be older than the Web, and Americans shouldn't have to choose between new technology and privacy."

Concerns about the creaky ECPA have prompted some members of Congress to propose changes in the statute, two and a half decades and huge technological leaps after its adoption....

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