House Judiciary Committee Announces Hearing on Electronic Communications Privacy Act

Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at 10:00 a.m., the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing to examine H.R. 699, the Email Privacy Act, a bill authored by Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) to reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986. Nearly 30 years ago, Congress passed ECPA to provide a fair balance between the privacy expectations of American citizens and the legitimate needs of law enforcement agencies.  The law sets forth a system of privacy rights for customers and subscribers of computer network service providers and applies to any request to obtain stored content, records, or other information, which includes stored emails, text or instant messages, documents, videos, or sound recordings stored in the cloud. ECPA applies not only to federal criminal investigations and prosecutions, but to state and local investigations and prosecutions, public safety requests, and civil investigations in which stored communications of these types of information are sought. Witnesses for the hearing on H.R. 699 are:

• Mr. Andrew J. Ceresney, Director, Division of Enforcement, United States Securities and Exchange Commission
• Mr. Richard W. Littlehale, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Criminal Investigation Division, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
• Mr. Steven Cook, President, Board of Directors, National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys
• Mr. Richard Salgado, Director, Law Enforcement and Information Security, Google, Inc.
• Mr. Chris Calabrese, Vice President, Policy, Center for Democracy and Technology
• Mr. Paul Rosenzweig, Founder, Red Branch Consulting

Below is a statement from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) on this hearing. Chairman Goodlatte: “The Electronic Communications Privacy Act is a decades- old, complex statute that governs the collection of vital evidence in a wide array of investigations. Technology has changed dramatically since 1986 and there is broad consensus that ECPA is outdated and contains insufficient protections for Americans’ privacy. “Next week, we will examine a bill that sets forth to reform ECPA. At the hearing, we will hear from entities affected by this law, including law enforcement, technology companies, and privacy groups. It’s important that our laws keep pace with ever-evolving technologies so that we protect our constitutional rights in today’s digital age. It’s also imperative that law enforcement has a workable law to conduct investigations so that it can protect our communities.” This hearing will take place in 2141 Rayburn House Office Building and will be webcast live at /. Camera crews wishing to cover must be congressionally-credentialed and RSVP with the House Radio-TV Gallery at (202) 225-5214.