More than 50 civil liberties organizations and tech companies have called on Congress to ensure the passage of the Email Privacy Act as part of a defense-spending package, ZDNet reports. The bill will prevent the government from accessing any opened emails older than six months without a warrant. In a letter, they write that while the bill does not achieve all the desired reforms, it “represents a carefully negotiated compromise.” For decades, officials have utilized the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, signed into law in 1986, to gain access to older emails with a subpoena. Passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year, the Email Privacy Act would end the “180-day rule” of the ECPA, which allowed email communications to be obtained without a warrant after 180 days.
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