The International Communications Privacy Act (ICPA) is legislation that would clarify how U.S. warrants for digital information apply in the U.S. and abroad. The bill ensures mutual cooperation between like-minded governments so we can fight global threats jointly and efficiently.
The laws that govern data stored online were written in 1986, long before the internet or even the World Wide Web. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) comes from the era when online storage was rare and expensive, and a home computer was the only device that stored valuable email. In today’s world, where even our cars have an internet connection, these old guidelines are completely out of touch.
We need to update our laws to make sure the rules are clear and make sense in a world where everything is now online.