It's Time for a Privacy Update!

In 1986, there was no World Wide Web, nobody carried a cell phone, and the only "social networking" two-year-old Mark Zuckerberg was doing was at pre-school or on play dates.

It was also the year that the law that protects the privacy of your electronic life — email, cell phone location records, Facebook posts, search history, cloud computing documents — was passed. Like the DeLorean of "Back to the Future," most of these technologies were still the stuff of sci-fi fantasies in 1986.

Online privacy law shouldn't be older than the Web, and Americans shouldn't have to choose between new technology and privacy.

In 1986, there was no World Wide Web, nobody carried a cell phone, and the only "social networking" two-year-old Mark Zuckerberg was doing was at pre-school or on play dates.

It was also the year that the law that protects the privacy of your electronic life — email, cell phone location records, Facebook posts, search history, cloud computing documents — was passed. Like the DeLorean of "Back to the Future," most of these technologies were still the stuff of sci-fi fantasies in 1986.

Online privacy law shouldn't be older than the Web, and Americans shouldn't have to choose between new technology and privacy.

Plain text version of the infographic:

Under the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, law enforcement can access all of the below – and more – without a warrant.

Emails older than 6 months
Digital address books and calendars
Direct Twitter messages older than 6 months
Cloud storage documents
Comments in e-books
Facebook messages and comments older than 6 months
Private Facebook and Instagram photos
Search queries
Dropbox accounts
Chats older than 6 months
Texts older than 6 months
To learn more, visit: aclu.org/ECPA

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