Warrant Required for Access to Electronic Communication Metadata
This Act significantly strengthens citizens' digital privacy protection. It requires government entities to obtain a judicial warrant—instead of a mere subpoena—to access metadata (e.g., connection times, location data) held by electronic communication service providers. This means the government must demonstrate probable cause of a crime before accessing your data, raising the standard for protecting your personal information.
Key points
Judicial Warrant Requirement: Government entities must obtain a warrant to access metadata (non-content information) from electronic service providers.
Metadata Protection: Metadata, such as subscriber information, connection times, and location data, is now protected by the same standard as communication content.
Closing Legal Loophole: The Act eliminates previous provisions that allowed easier, warrantless access to data stored for more than 180 days.
Introduced
Citizen Poll