Collins introduces privacy legislation

9th District Congressman Doug Collins has introduced the International Communications Privacy Act (ICPA), H.R. 3718, to outline when and how law enforcement may access electronic information stored abroad. Rep Collins said:

Thirty years after Congress passed the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, America needs statutes that address information security in an increasingly digital and global age. The International Communications Privacy Act will increase the effectiveness of American law enforcement and the privacy protections of U.S. citizens by correcting the legal ambiguity that has threatened both in recent years. Support for ICPA is growing, and the courts have made it clear that the time for Congress to act in this space has come.

International conflicts of law have put U.S. electronic communications service providers in the position of having to choose which country’s codes to violate because they often store information in servers located throughout the world. ICPA gives these companies a clearer legal context for their operations and strengthens the relationships among American law enforcement agents and their foreign counterparts.

The legislation would also safeguard American data housed in servers outside the U.S. by requiring warrants from domestic law enforcement investigating criminal acts as well as reciprocity from foreign governments involved in such cases.