"Under current law, law enforcement does not need to acquire a search warrant to obtain email communications that have been stored for longer than 180 days. The proposed legislation would eliminate this rule and require a search warrant regardless of the age of an email. It would also implement new protections for geolocation information that is collected, used or stored by smartphones or other mobile technologies."
Like it or not, we are moving toward a cloud-centric model for working with not just messages, but data of all stripes, and this newly proposed legislation promises to have a significant impact on all players in the cloud. Google, for example, is pushing a heavily cloud-centric computing model with its new Chrome OS. Chrome OS eschews locally stored data and applications and imposes cloud-based solutions on users. Its acceptance will depend heavily on user-based perceptions of privacy in the cloud.
Notably, Leahy also introduced the original ECPA legislation that governs access to data stored in the cloud. It's also notable that Google is among a group of tech giants, including AOL and Microsoft--called Digital Due Process--that have been asking for amendments to the original ECPA legislation.
For those who believe in the promise of cloud computing--where open source solutions are playing an increasingly prominent role--the newly proposed legislation promises to ensure more privacy than cloud users have currently. It's likely to be good news on the cloud front, but the legislation may be heavily amended going forward. For example, it proposes rules pertaining to real-time collection of geolocation data, but does not restrict the right of law enforcement officials to obtain past cell phone location data from crime suspects.
This bill is definitely one to watch.
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