Skip to main content

House passes bipartisan anti-email snooping bill — unanimously

government anti surveilance email online privacy
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed new legislation that severely curtails the government’s ability to peer into your email, replacing outdated and confusing legislation.

The Email Privacy Act received wide bipartisan support. It was written Kansas Representative Kevin Yoder (R), and received support from Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), and John Conyers (D-Mich.). It codified the need for the government to seek a warrant when attempting to look through private email.

An earlier statute known as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act was passed in 1986, and acted as the basis for how the U.S. government operated when conducting email surveillance until parts of it were ruled unconstitutional in a 2010 U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision.

Before the courts acted, the government could compel a service provider to release your private emails without a warrant. However, the statute’s provisions were convoluted and confusing. As an example, the government’s ability to secure emails without a warrant often depended on the age of the email in question, or whether you had opened it or not.

In the absence of a more detailed legislative framework, email providers began observing a warrant-for-content policy following the 2010 judicial decision.

The new legislation wants to make that decision the law of the land. “It’s common sense legislation that affects every American, and clears up a long-time hole in the law that allowed the Government to intrude on American’s privacy,” Rep. Yoder said on the House floor following its passing.

Yoder’s bill received more co-sponsors — 314 to be exact — than any other House bill in recent history, and received the backing of major Internet companies, including Google, which also lauded its passing and criticized the odd stipulations that the ECPA had in place.

“Users don’t and shouldn’t expect that communications they send through or information they store with a provider will enjoy lower privacy protection based on these arbitrary and nonsensical distinctions,” Google Law Enforcement and Information Security director Richard Salgado said in a statement.

After passing the House on a 419-0 vote, it is expected the Senate will act on the issue in short order. A similar bill is making its way through the Senate, sponsored by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah. The bill may run into trouble there, however, as law enforcement agencies have pressed senators to carve out some exceptions, which the House bill does not do.

Ed Oswald
For fifteen years, Ed has written about the latest and greatest in gadgets and technology trends. At Digital Trends, he's…
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5, Surface Pro 9 heavily discounted today
The Surface Pro 9 in laptop mode on a table.

Microsoft's Surface devices are well known for their versatility and performance, but they command premium prices. That's why there's always high demand for Surface Laptop and Surface Pro deals, as who doesn't want to enjoy a discount when making a huge investment? If you're interested, Best Buy is offering the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 at $300 off, which brings its price down to $1,000 from $1,300, and the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 at $540 off, which lowers its price also to $1,000 from $1,540, ahead of the arrival of the consumer versions of the Surface Laptop 6 and Surface Pro 10. You need to push through with your transaction as soon as possible if either of these bargains caught your attention, as we're not sure how much time is remaining before they disappear.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 -- $1,000, was $1,300

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 is a traditional Windows 11 laptop that's powered by the 12th-generation Intel Core i5 Evo processor, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, and 8GB of RAM. It won't match up to the performance of the best laptops, but it's going to be more than enough to handle daily tasks for work or school. The laptop features a 13.5-inch PixelSense touchscreen with vibrant colors and sharp details, a battery that can last up to 18 hours on a single charge, and a 512GB SSD that provides ample storage space for your files. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 also comes with a 720p webcam and dual far-field Studio Mics for clear video calls.

Read more
The best MacBook to buy in 2024
Apple MacBook Pro 16 downward view showing keyboard and speaker.

Now that Apple has started outfitting its laptops with its M3 generation of chips, it's time to take another look at which is the best MacBook to buy in 2024. That’s not always easy, though, as buying the newest MacBook isn’t always the right decision. Apple has several tiers of performance, as well as various sizes, which can further complicate the matter.

What’s more, you can also still get M1 and M2 MacBooks, some from Apple’s own website and some from third-party retailers. But are they still worth your money? Our guide should help you decide.

Read more
9 best laptops of 2024: tested and reviewed
The MacBook Air on a white table.

To earn the crown as the best laptop in 2024, a device needs to have it all: gorgeous design, killer performance, a productive keyboard, long-lasting battery life, and much more.

Each of the laptops below has been vetted thoroughly by Digital Trends. Whether it's an affordable Chromebook or a top-of-the-line gaming laptop, they've all been subjected to real-world testing, as well as benchmark and battery tests, to collect enough data to objectively pit them against each other.

Read more