Press Releases

In 2014, in a unanimous ruling delivered by Chief Justice Roberts, the Supreme Court concluded that the police may not search a cellphone without first demonstrating probable cause.

Citing an obvious Fourth Amendment interest in the vast amount of data we store on—and access from—our personal devices, the Court wrote:

“The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the Founders fought.  Our answer to the question of what police must do before searching a cell phone seized incident to an arrest is accordingly simple—get a warrant.”

With that decision, the Court took a bold step towards reconciling our Fourth Amendment values with the advent of modern communications technology.

Today, this Committee takes a similar step to reconcile our interests in privacy and due process with the realities of modern computing.

H.R. 699, the “Email Privacy Act,” recognizes that the content of our communications, although often stored in digital format these days, is still worthy of Fourth Amendment protection.

So to the investigators and government agents who seek access to our email, our advice is accordingly simple:   get a warrant.

It is an idea whose time has come.  This bill will allow us to move to a clear, uniform standard for law enforcement agencies hoping to access the content of our communications, namely, a warrant based on probable cause.

In addition, H.R. 699 would codify the right of the providers to give notice of this intrusion to their customers, subject to certain exigent circumstances that must also be validated by the court.

And, the measure would accomplish these goals without any significant interruption to the way our law enforcement agencies investigate criminal activity.

It is no wonder, then, that the Email Privacy Act enjoys more support than any bill that has not yet seen action on the floor of the House of Representatives.  At last count, it enjoys 314 cosponsors—including 196 Republicans, 118 Democrats, and a majority of this Committee.

This legislation is long overdue.  I am glad that we could work out our remaining differences and bring it to consideration today.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 699, the “Email Privacy Act,” as amended by the proposal before us today.

I thank the Chairman, and I yield back the balance of my time.