Thor Benson: It's Not Just the NSA -- the IRS Is Reading Your Emails Too

Once your emails reach the tender age of 180 days, government agencies can easily gain access to them without your even knowing it. The Email Privacy Act would change that. The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution protects Americans from “unreasonable searches and seizures,” and those who support reforming the ECPA believe allowing civil agencies and law enforcement to access older data is a violation of that right. Something that happened six months ago could obviously have significant relevance to someone’s privacy, and giving agencies carte blanche to access the information means everyone’s front door could be, in a relatively short time, blown wide open.