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Tag: privacy concerns
Warrant Concerns Could Stymie Email Privacy Bill

Warrant Concerns Could Stymie Email Privacy Bill

By Alisha Green, CQ-Roll Call (TNS)

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan House bill that would require the government obtain a warrant to access emails is facing road blocks as groups including law enforcement and federal agencies seek exceptions.

Despite attracting more than 300 co-sponsors and support from tech companies, opponents of the Email Privacy Act told lawmakers Tuesday at a packed House Judiciary hearing they fear the measure could impede investigations unless there are some exceptions.

“Congress can ensure that we are furthering the legitimate needs of law enforcement … by joining with the warrant requirement recognized exceptions and procedures,” Chairman Robert W. Goodlatte, R-Va., said. Goodlatte is not a co-sponsor of the legislation, though more than half of the committee’s members are.

The bill aims to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 for the digital age and address when law enforcement can access emails. Under current law, the government can access emails without a warrant if they are stored for more than 180 days in the cloud, which refers to a network of remote servers. The legislation would require a warrant no matter how long emails have been stored in the cloud.

While committee members and industry groups agree about the need for requiring a warrant, nuances in the bill have prevented it from reaching markup despite having the highest number of co-sponsors in the current session.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, for example, has raised concerns that even though it would be able to issue a subpoena to an individual, it would be required to obtain a warrant to access information directly from an Internet service provider. The SEC does not have the authority to obtain warrants because it is a civil agency.

Andrew J. Ceresney, director of the SEC’s enforcement division, said the agency needs a way to obtain information directly from the Internet service providers in cases when an individual has not responded fully to a subpoena.

“Unsurprisingly, individuals who violate the law are often reluctant to produce to the government evidence of their own misconduct,” he said.

The SEC is asking for a change to the bill so the agency could use a court order to request information from an Internet service provider.

There’s been significant pushback on that request, though, from the bill’s supporters.

Richard Salgado, director of law enforcement and information security at Google, said such carve-outs for civil agencies would go against the Fourth Amendment. He also argued there are other ways for the agencies to get the information they need even if the target of an investigation doesn’t comply with a subpoena.

Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., the lead sponsor of the bill along with Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., said the concerns should be discussed in a markup, but he added he’s wary of adding exceptions to the warrant requirement for civil agencies.

“I think that would greatly undermine the purpose of the legislation and make it difficult to support,” he told reporters after the hearing.

Yoder also said he does not want to see the bill “weighed down” with provisions from other email privacy legislation after Goodlatte said he plans to take up another bill that would prohibit law enforcement agencies from compelling tech companies to turn over information on foreign customers held in servers overseas.

Goodlatte said the committee plans to hold a hearing soon on “issues surrounding law enforcement access to information located on servers outside the U.S.,” suggesting lawmakers will take up the related Microsoft-backed Law Enforcement Access to Data Stored Abroad Act.

But that bill has less support in Congress and from tech companies, while the Email Privacy Act has much broader support.

“Passing legislation to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act would make it clear that the warrant standard of the U.S. Constitution applies to private digital information just as it applies to physical property,” Linda Moore, president and CEO of TechNet, said in a statement. The group’s members include Apple, Google and Yahoo.

The hearing also came the day after disclosures about the special authority the FBI has used to compel Internet and communications providers to hand over user information, including full browsing histories.

A court filing made public Monday shows how the FBI is able to conduct digital surveillance outside of requirements for warrants or subpoenas.

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, pointed to the use of national security letters as an example of why he doesn’t trust administrations to be careful when using exceptions.

©2015 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Photo: Chairman Robert W. Goodlatte via wikipedia

U.S. Names Drone Testing Sites

Washington (AFP) – U.S. aviation regulators on Monday released the names of sites picked to test civilian drones whose slated 2015 debut over American skies has sparked privacy concerns.

Testing of the unmanned aircraft is due to start within three months and could continue until February 2017, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.

The FAA has said some 7,500 small unmanned aircraft can be expected in US airspace in the next five years — provided regulations are in place to handle them.

As well as law enforcement, supporters say civilian drones could be used for a vast range of applications, including tracking the progress of wildfires, helping to find lost skiers, identifying criminals or mapping inhospitable terrain.

Data from the testing “will help the FAA answer key research questions such as solutions for ‘sense and avoid,’ command and control, ground control station standards and human factors, airworthiness, lost link procedures and the interface with the air traffic control system,” the FAA said.

Operators include the University of Alaska, whose winning proposal covers seven climatic zones and foresees testing in the states of Hawaii and Oregon.

The state of Nevada will, among other things, focus on how air traffic control procedures will evolve with the introduction of drones.

New York’s Griffiss International Airport, meanwhile, will study the integration of drones into the heavily frequented northeast airspace.

Another chosen operator, the North Dakota Department of Commerce, is the only one to offer testing in a temperate, continental climate and a variety of different airspaces, according to the FAA.

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi plans to develop system safety requirements.

The sixth operator, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, known as Virginia Tech, will conduct “failure mode testing,” with sites in both Virginia and New Jersey.

The FAA said it had received 25 proposals from 24 states and made its selection following a 10-month selection process.

It noted in its announcement that, as laid out in November, test site operators must comply with federal, state and other privacy laws and have a “written plan for data use and retention.”

Michael Toscano, president and chief executive of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, representing drone makers, welcomed the FAA’s announcement, calling it “an important milestone on the path toward unlocking the potential of unmanned aircraft.”

According to Toscano, the market for civilian drones will lead to the creation of 100,000 jobs over the first decade following their integration into U.S. skies. That would generate more than $82 billion, he said.

The American Civil Liberties Union urged Congress to ensure the protection of privacy.

“We’re pleased the FAA acknowledges the importance of safeguarding privacy in the testing areas where drones will be flying, but requiring test sites to have privacy policies is no guarantee that every site will put strong protections in place,” Catherine Crump, the group’s staff attorney, said in a statement.

“Someday drones will be commonplace in U.S. skies and, before that happens, it’s imperative that Congress enact strong, nationwide privacy rules.”

About 80 law enforcement agencies currently operate unmanned aircraft under special authorization.

Earlier this month, Amazon head Jeff Bezos floated a futuristic mini-drone delivery plan that would drop small packages at doorsteps in just 30 minutes.