What's New in Civic Tech: U.S. House Approves Email Privacy Protections, Seattle PD Deploys Data Analytics Platform

Plus, DataRescue SF Bay event strives to preserve publicly accessible data resources from the federal government.


The U.S. House of Representatives has approved the Email Privacy Act, which would require warrants for law enforcement agents to search private emails and data that's been stored for more than six months. 

Previously the IRS, FBI and other agencies could review emails that sat in private inboxes for more than 180 days due to the 1986 Electric Communications Act, which considered such messages abandoned. Agents needed only request copies from email providers. This new legislation would require a court-ordered warrant, regardless of an email’s age. 

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