Bipartisan Proposed Legislation To Curtail Secretive Email Seizure

"A bipartisan proposal in both the House and Senate would sharply limit the ability to seize emails without notice to the owner," writes longtime Slashdot reader hawk. "It places a six-month limit on the length of gag orders in warrants." The Hill reports: The Government Surveillance Transparency Act, sponsored by a bipartisan group of lawmakers from both chambers, puts limitations on gag orders that seek to block tech companies from altering users whose data has been seized. It targets a practice brought into the spotlight after journalists from CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post all had their records seized by the Department of Justice (DOJ). The bill requires law enforcement agencies to notify surveillance subjects that their email, location and web browsing data has been seized, aligning with current practices for phone records and bank data. "When the government obtains someone's emails or other digital information, users have a right to know," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in a release. "Our bill ensures that no investigation will be compromised, but makes sure the government can't hide surveillance forever by misusing sealing and gag orders to prevent the American people from understanding the enormous scale of government surveillance, as well as ensuring that the targets eventually learn their personal information has been searched."

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