Seventy-plus civil liberties and privacy advocates and industry representatives wrote...

Seventy-plus civil liberties and privacy advocates and industry representatives wrote President Barack Obama asking him to support an update to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) without a government agency exception (http://bit.ly/1kpgN80). Similar bills in the House and Senate would update ECPA to require a warrant to access remotely stored electronic communications such as email or Google Docs. “Seemingly, the only major impediment to passage is an objection by administrative agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission, which would like to gut the legislation as a way to expand their investigative authorities,” wrote the groups Monday. “Such an agency carve out would be a major blow to reform efforts, allowing increased government access to our communications during the many civil investigations conducted by federal and state agencies.” It’s expected the White House will support an ECPA update in its big data report -- likely due out Thursday -- that includes an exception for some federal agencies (CD April 30 p14). “Support from the Administration for strong ECPA legislation without an administrative loophole would be an important step toward removing this roadblock,” the groups said.