If It’s In the Cloud, the Government Can Read It, Says Senate Bill

November 20th, 2012

Senator Patrick Leahy is pushing a bill that would allow government agencies to access private information like email and Facebook posts without a warrant:

Leahy’s rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies — including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission — to access Americans’ e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge.

I propose a compromise for the federal government: we, the people, will allow you to access our private information and communications without a warrant if you, the government, allow us to access yours, too. All email, phone calls and documents, any time we please. After all, if you’re not doing anything wrong then you’ve got nothing to hide, right?

UPDATE: Forbes reports that CNET’s article is incorrect, and that Patrick Leahy is not pushing for explicitly allowing government agencies to access private online communications without a warrant.