H.R. 699: Email Privacy Act

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H.R. 699: Email Privacy Act

114th Congress · introduced 2015-02-04 · Crime and Law Enforcement · Latest: Received in the Senate.

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Official title

Email Privacy Act

Plain summary

Email Privacy Act (Sec. 2)This bill amends the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 tomake a series of technical changes to clarify that the voluntary disclosure prohibitions and exceptions to such prohibitions apply to the content of communications regardless of whether the communications are held in storage or have been read. (Sec. 3)Additionally, the bill amends the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 to revise the standards for when a governmental entity may compel disclosure of communications content from a third party service provider.The bill removes the authority of a government entity to acquire the contents of a communication with a court order.Thegovernment must have a warrant to acquire the contents of a communication from a third party provider.A governmental entity that receives a subscriber'srecords or information from a provider is not required to provide notice to such person; however, a provider may notify a subscriberof a request to disclose information to the government. (Sec. 4)A governmental entity may apply for a court order directing a provider, for up to 180 days, to refrain from notifying any person that the provider has been required to disclose communications or records. Additionally, a governmental entity is allowed to seek one or more extensions of the delayed-notice order for periods of up to 180 days each.The government does not have to demonstrate with certainty that an adverse result will occur from notification; it only has to demonstrate that an adverse result is likely to occur.

Congressional Research Service summary (Passed House amended), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

The strongest published arguments

Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Yoder, Kevin [R-KS-3] · 314 cosponsors

Cost estimate: CBO cost estimate: H.R. 699, Email Privacy Act (2016-04-25)

Cosponsors on this site

Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL), Rick W. Allen (R-GA), Mark E. Amodei (R-NV), Brian Babin (R-TX), Andy Barr (R-KY), Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (D-VA), Gus M. Bilirakis (R-FL), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA), Judy Chu (D-CA), Katherine M. Clark (D-MA), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Tom Cole (R-OK), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Suzan K. DelBene (D-WA), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) and 254 more.

Recorded votes

• House roll call 167 (2016): On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended, HR699 (2016-04-27): Passed

Sources

• Congressional Research Service summary (Passed House amended)
• Congress.gov
• Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-114hr699.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/hr>

Record fed-us-cong114-hr699 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114