Google wants law to reflect 'cloud computing' environment

Google is a leading member of Digital Due Process, a coalition of tech companies and privacy advocates pushing for updates to digital communication laws.

They want to update the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which governs how law enforcement can access electronic data.

In a blog post today, Google spelled out the ideas behind the recommendations.  It boils down to the government needing to get a search warrant before obtaining any private communications or documents stored online.

The government should also demonstrate to a court that the data it wants to access is relevant and material to a criminal investigation before monitoring digital communication records. including email, instant messaging and text messaging.

Here's a video Google posted today explaining why the company wants the law to be updated: