I would like to bring to your attention the fact that the Electronic Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) is outdated and needs to be revised. The Act contains good policies, but it has been twenty-four years since it was enacted, and since then, there have been major developments in communication technology. The ECPA does not protect all forms of communications and consumer records. Due to the provisions of this act, service providers are compelled to surrender consumer data from their servers to government agencies on demand. The government agency demanding the consumer data only requires certification in writing that the information is for an investigation of foreign counterintelligence. The certification does not need any judicial review to be effective, which exposes the provision to abuse by agencies.
The types of crime on which surveillance can be used are therefore increased. Although it may be argued that this provision is aimed at protecting the wider population, it leaves the privacy of the consumers in danger of being tampered with by anyone who can get a written statement certifying that the information is relevant. This provision can also be abused by employers. For example, once an employer has a suspicion that an employee is not acting in the company’s interest, he/she can gain access to communications at the workplace, even though workplace communications are theoretically protected. Although it may be argued that the employer has a right to protect the interest of the organization, this leaves the employee’s privacy unprotected, since it is easy for an employer to get permission to monitor communications within the company.
The Electronic Privacy Act also does not protect email in temporary storage. Virtually all electronic mail is stored temporarily in transit at least once. This means that there is no privacy enacted at all for electronic mail. Although online email services make communication with loved ones easy, emails disclose a lot of information about a person’s interests, habits, beliefs, and concerns. Every citizen who uses email is therefore exposed and can have their privacy invaded. Under the current electronic privacy law, if anybody leaves a message in their webmail account for more than a hundred and eighty days, the government can demand access to such a message without a search warrant. The contents of such a message would have been accessed by third parties for whom the message was not meant, mainly the government officials charged with the duty of carrying out such access. It may be argued that any private email that is useful would not remain unopened for such a long time, but this does not preserve any kind of privacy for people.
It is clear that the Electronic Communication Act is outdated and should be revised to account for the recent developments in technology. Upon revision, the ECPA will keep up with the current developments, such as protecting electronic mail that is in temporary storage. The regulation should also ensure that employees’ privacy is well guarded and employers should not infringe their privacy without the permission of the employee. The permission to conduct surveillance should only be given to specific individuals of legitimate authority, and not just to anyone who can get a letter stating that they have permission; this way, it will reduce the number of crimes committed by people who can access others’ information with the pretext that they have permission. If all these precautions are enacted, there will be more consumer privacy and hence a heightened and healthier use of technology by American citizens.
Sincerely,
In Young, Song.
Concerned citizen.