Policy
Tell Congress to Reform ECPA
Last week we wrote about the encouraging bipartisan support for reform of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), and progress being made towards a vote on updated legislation.
ECPA sets the rules for when police and the government can read our email, look at our photos and access other content that’s stored in the cloud. The law has become outdated since it was passed in 1986 — despite the incredible technological advances of recent decades.
- ECPA needs to be updated in order to protect Americans’ online privacy rights.
- Reform needs to include a requirement for governmental agencies to get a warrant to access any online communications – regardless of their age.
However, it was reported on Wednesday that the SEC, representing the interests of civil agencies who would lose access to your private messages if ECPA was updated, are strongly opposing the reforms and are sidetracking Congress away from voting.
At Golden Frog we are strongly in favor of ECPA reform and we want to send a message to Congress that this legislation needs to move forward.
So, what can you do?
Join this call for action by emailing or tweeting at your Representative to call on them to support ECPA reform now!
EMAIL IT
Below is a sample email you can copy and send. Look up your Representative’s email address by entering your zip code through Open Congress: https://www.opencongress.org/people/zipcodelookup
Subject Line: Please support urgent reforms to ECPA
Body:
Dear Congresswoman / Congressman,
As your constituent I care about my privacy and believe that the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) needs urgent reform. This outdated legislation has left our communications open to unwarranted government intrusion.
I call on you to support reforms to ECPA that require a warrant to access any online communications – regardless of their date – by passing S. 356 (ECPA Amendments Act) and H.R. 699 (Email Privacy Act).
I hope you will join the vast majority of American’s who support this reform and will push for adoption on this issue at the earliest opportunity.
Yours sincerely,
[ YOUR NAME ]
[ YOUR ADDRESS – This is important so that the representative recognizes you as a constituent ]
TWEET IT
Tweet directly to your Representative. Look up their Twitter handle in this list of members: https://twitter.com/gov/lists/us-house/members
Then copy and paste this tweet to send directly to them:
“It is time for ECPA reform! I call on (INSERT REP TWITTER HANDLE) to support #ECPA reform and protect my privacy!”
Thank you for making your voice heard on this important issue. You can read more about ECPA here: All About ECPA