Comment on Coalition of Tech Companies Wants to Give You Digital Due Process

Google, together with Microsoft, AT&T, AOL, Intel, the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and a number of other organizations launched a new effort to modernize the Electronic Communications Act (ECPA) today. ECPA, which was enacted in 1986, sets standards for low enforcement access to electronic communications and other data. According to this coalition of technology companies, which calls itself Digital Due Process, ECPA has been outpaced by technological advances like cloud computing and is now a "patchwork of confusing standards that have been interpreted inconsistently by the courts, creating uncertainty for both service providers and law enforcement agencies." Sponsor ECPA: Outdated and Convoluted In an announcement earlier today, Google specifically noted that while the ECPA was originally designed to protect citizens from unwarranted government intrusion (while still giving law enforcement the necessary tools to ensure public safety), ECPA is now completely outdated.