TechFreedom is calling on all Americans to stand up for their digital Fourth Amendment rights. The Constitution delicately balances privacy with the needs of law enforcement by making judges responsible for determining whether law enforcement has established ‘probable cause.’ This judicial warrant requirement has always been the crown jewel of our civil rights. Our Founding Fathers would be appalled to learn that this fundamental principle does not extend to our electronic communications and location. After all, they fought–and won–a revolution to prevent similar abuses by British authorities.
TechFreedom has joined with a philosophically diverse coalition of public interest groups in supporting the “Not Without a Warrant” grass-roots petition, which reads as follows:
The government should be required to go to a judge and get a warrant before it can read our email, access private photographs and documents we store online, or track our location using our mobile phones. Please support legislation that would update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) to require warrants for this sensitive information and to require the government to report publicly on the use of its surveillance powers.
Today marks the 25th anniversary of ECPA’s passage. Anyone can sign the petition at NotWithoutAWarrant.com or show their support by liking the Facebook version.
TechFreedom Senior Adjunct Fellow Charlie Kennedy spoke at a Cato Institute event on Wednesday about modernizing ECPA. The video is archived here.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.