Tag Archives: ECPA

Protection of online privacy moves forward in bipartisan vote!

Posted on November 29, 2012 by | 1 Comment

The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) took an important bipartisan vote today to reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) and strengthen the privacy protection of emails and documents stored online in the “cloud.” Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chair of the SJC, spearheaded an amendment to the existing law to require that the government seek warrants before law enforcement, or other federal regulatory bodies, may obtain personal online records from Internet service providers and third party providers. The current ECPA law allows investigators access to emails and other private online information through third parties without judicial approval.

ALA’s commitment to privacy grows out of the library community’s deep principles to protect library users’ reading and online records, unless there is judicial approval and probable cause. In the weeks leading up to today’s markup, the American Library Association (ALA) worked with allies including the Digital Due Process Coalition and the Vanishing Rights Coalition, to advocate for necessary ECPA reforms.  Since ECPA was passed in 1986, several changes in technology have occurred, such as the increasingly popular use of cloud technologies and third party storage services.

With only three weeks left in the current Congress, several steps need to be taken before the bill is completely amended. The bill will now go to the Senate for a floor vote. Additional steps require action in the House and signing by President Obama.  But the markup is a major step forward for the SJC to approve these reform provisions, even if the issue moves to the next Congress.

This current ECPA reauthorization is actually part of H.R. 2471, a reauthorization of the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), also passed in the 1980’s.  The House bill started only as an update of the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA.) The Committee passed an amendment by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) requiring customers to opt-in to any video sharing agreement, and that any advanced consent to share video viewing information must be renewed after two years – another good step to protect privacy of personal records.

“The American Library Association thanks Senators Leahy, Feinstein, Franken, Cornyn, Lee and others who recognize the importance of protecting personal information in online activities (ECPA) and pushing reforms for consumers’ video-viewing records,” said Lynne Bradley, director of ALA’s Office of Government Relations. “We are ready to work with these champions and others to move these reforms forward in the coming weeks and months.”

Senator Leahy’s statement is now available online.

For more information, visit:

About Lynne Bradley

Lynne works in the ALA Washington Office and is director of ALA's Office of Government Relations.

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Posted in Intellectual Freedom, Library Advocacy, OGR, Public Libraries, School Libraries

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Tell your senators: ‘Don’t let ECPA threaten my electronic privacy!’

Posted on November 27, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act – or ECPA as it is affectionately called – is scheduled for markup this Thursday, November 29th, in the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC). Originally enacted in 1986 when technology was less complex and less embedded in our lives, ECPA is again up for reauthorization. There is a need for ECPA reform given all the new technologies (ex. the Cloud) and applications (ex. GOOGLE) as well as new threats (ex., financial hackers and cyber-threats). But there are also discomforting rumors that new provisions in the bill could further threaten our privacy.

ACTION ALERT:  Defend online privacy! Use this tool to send an email to your Senators or call them directly and ask them to preserve our Constitutional rights by updating ECPA.

DOES YOUR SENATOR SERVE ON THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE?  Check this full list of senators on the Judiciary Committee and their office phone numbers. If your senator is on the list, please make a call!

THE MESSAGE: Senators should vote for more privacy protections and oppose amendments that would expose the public to greater monitoring and surveillance without the appropriate subpoenas or warrants.

Like a book’s cover, the title of this bill does not reflect the grave threats to privacy rights inherent to proposed “reforms.”   The discussions are even more complex and confusing because stakeholders, like the American public, have initially only heard about potential amendments and other rumored amendments that may not be made. For further background and  key provisions, visit our VanishingRights webpage. None of us have the full picture of this bill at this writing.  (Bill number may be S. 1011.)

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?  The statute says the government can read a lot of your most personal communications and online activities without a warrant.

WHY ARE LIBRARIES CONCERNED?  The library community has long standing principles committed to protecting the privacy of library users based upon the principle that the government and others have no right to access what people read – or now, where they go on the Internet. If  law enforcement need such access, ALA argues that some kind of judicial due and process must be in place.

If ECPA reform does not pass in this Congress, which has little time left, it will be reintroduced in the next Congress. It is important to make our position clear now.

As argued by members of the Vanishing Rights Coalition: “We are simply asking for ALL of our personal information to have the SAME Constitutional protections regardless of how we choose to store it. “

About Lynne Bradley

Lynne works in the ALA Washington Office and is director of ALA's Office of Government Relations.

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Posted in Intellectual Freedom, Library Advocacy, OGR

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How an outdated law may endanger your fourth amendment rights

Posted on November 12, 2012 by | 1 Comment

The ALA joins with like-minded groups such as the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in a new campaign to reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). The campaign site is VanishingRights.com.

ECPA was last updated in the mid-1980s and describes the lengths that government may go to in order to access private digital information. At a time when cloud computing is taking off and more and more of our daily interactions take place in the cloud, clarity of this law is essential. The government currently claims that our private information that resides in the cloud and the location information that can be accessed via our mobile phones is accessible without a warrant.

We firmly disagree! The 4th amendment reads as follows:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Vanishing Rights is a campaign to help fight for our rights that were guaranteed in the 4th amendment. Now is the time to update ECPA to ensure that we receive privacy in our electronic communications just as we do for a letter sent via the US Postal Service.

Stay tuned as this is predicted to be a fast moving issue!

About Jessica McGilvray

Jessica McGilvary is the Assistant Director of ALA Washington Office's Office of Government Relations (OGR).

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Posted in Intellectual Freedom, Library Advocacy, OGR

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ALA Supports Amash Amendment to CISPA Bill

Posted on April 30, 2012 by | Leave a comment

During ‘Cybersecurity Week’ in the U.S. House of Representatives last week, the American Library Association announced its support for the “Amash/Labrador/Nadler/Paul/Polis Amendment” to H.R. 3523, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 (CISPA). The ALA asked Congress to amend H.R. 3523 and move it toward a proper balance between our nation’s privacy laws and the need to fight cybersecurity threats. CISPA trumps all current privacy laws including the forty-eight state library record confidentiality laws as well as the Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Wiretap Act, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The Amash amendment sought to protect library patron records and other personally identifiable information from wholesale sharing among private companies, ISP providers and the government. The amendment passed 415 to 0, although the bill did not include other proposed amendments that the ALA supported. The Amash Amendment was the type of amendment essential to address the serious problems in H.R. 3523 and the library community remained disappointed in the outcome of the final bill.

ALA President Molly Raphael joined many organizations, including the American Society of News Editors, American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Media and Democracy, in opposition to the cybersecurity bill by signing a coalition letter. ALA had urged Congress to accept the Amash Amendment and to seek other improvements to the bill.

“Cybersecurity is a serious, legitimate concern for our nation as well as for libraries, library patrons and the public at large. But CISPA would establish a whole new system for our nation’s privacy laws and policies by permitting the sharing of extraordinary amounts of personal information and electronic communications with little oversight and overly broad definitions of cybersecurity,” Raphael said. “The House of Representatives did not heed the ALA’s call and the future of CISPA lies in the Senate’s and the White House’s hands. We hope that the Senate will do better,” she added.

Jazzy Wright
Press Officer, ALA, Washington Office

About Jazzy Wright

Jazzy Wright is the Press Officer of the American Library Association's Washington Office. Email her at jwright@alawash.org.

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Posted in Cybersecurity, Intellectual Freedom, Library Advocacy, OGR, Public Libraries, School Libraries, Telecommunications, Washington Office News

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ALA announces support of Digital Due Process

Posted on March 30, 2010 by | 2 Comments

The American Library Association (ALA) today joined the Digital Due Process Coalition (DDP), seeking to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA).   DDP includes a diverse group of privacy advocates, major companies and think tanks, proposing principles to guide the updating of ECPA, the key federal law that defines the rules for government access to e-mail and private files stored in the Internet “cloud.”

The DDP principles are fully consistent with ALA’s policies in support of privacy rights, including people’s activities in the new technological environments available to us now.   Governmental entities should not be able to access personal electronic records, emails and other data without appropriate search warrants, particularized suspicion and probable cause.

ALA has advocated for these principles as part of the library community’s commitment to civil liberties including the ‘right to read’ and the privacy rights of readers and library users.    If the ECPA is updated following these key principles, law enforcement can have the tools to conduct its work and investigations while the public can trust that basic privacy rights will be protected.

About Jenni Terry

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Posted in Intellectual Freedom, OGR, Telecommunications, Washington Office News

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