This Week in Tech: Leahy to lay out Judiciary agenda

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) will lay out his agenda for the new Congress in a speech at Georgetown University Law Center on Wednesday morning.

Leahy's top technology priority will likely be to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) to require that police obtain a warrant before reading people's emails, Facebook messages or other forms of electronic communication.

ECPA, which Congress passed in 1986, only requires police to obtain a subpoena, issued without a judge's approval, to read emails that have been opened or that are more than 180 days old.

Leahy argues that the warrant requirement is necessary to ensure that federal privacy laws keep pace with advances in technology.

He tried to attach his email privacy measure to a video deregulation bill last year, but Republicans expressed concern that the requirement would hamper police investigations.

Leahy might also renew his push for legislation that would make it a crime for a company to hide a data breach from its customers. The bill, which Leahy pushed in the last Congress, would also require businesses that store consumers' sensitive personal information to establish data security programs.

Leahy has also been active on the cybersecurity front and has authored legislation that would stiffen penalties for hackers.

Leahy authored the ill-fated Protect IP Act that was shelved early last year after Google, Wikipedia, Reddit and other websites launched online protests against the anti-piracy measure. Leahy has said he is committed to tackling copyright infringement online, but a Judiciary aide said he is taking a wait-and-see approach on anti-piracy legislation this year.

“The problem of Internet piracy and the sale of counterfeit products online has not gone away. Sen. Leahy continues to monitor law enforcement actions, significant developments in the courts and voluntary industry practices, and all those pieces will help him determine what next steps are appropriate,” the aide said.

In other technology news, the Electronic Privacy Information Center will hold a symposium on Tuesday to discuss the privacy risks of drones and domestic surveillance.

The Federal Aviation Administration has predicted that by the end of the decade, 30,000 commercial and government drones could be flying over U.S. skies, but there are few legal safeguards in place to protect privacy.

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas), law Professor Orin Kerr, law Professor Laura Donohue, EPIC's Amie Stepanovich and Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Vice President Gretchen West are scheduled to speak. The group also invited Reps. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta.

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) will discuss the "new broadband agenda" at a Broadband Breakfast event on Tuesday morning. Graham Dufault, an aide to Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), and David Grossman, an aide to Eshoo, will also speak on a panel.

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