Google and Electronic Due Process

Google have helped to establish Digital Due Process, a coalition of technology companies, civil rights organizations and academics seeking to update ECPA to provide privacy protections to new and emerging technologies.

The idea being that they'll:

1. Better protect your data stored online: The government must first get a search warrant before obtaining any private communications or documents stored online;
   
2. Better protect your location privacy: The government must first get a search warrant before it can track the location of your cell phone or other mobile communications device;
   
3. Better protect against monitoring of when and with whom you communicate: The government must demonstrate to a court that the data it seeks is relevant and material to a criminal investigation before monitoring when and with whom you communicate using email, instant messaging, text messaging, the telephone, etc.; and
   
4. Better protect against bulk data requests: The government must demonstrate to a court that the information it seeks is needed for a criminal investigation before it can obtain data about an entire class of users.
   

In the coming months, they’ll meet with lawmakers, law enforcement officials and others to build support for modernizing the law and hopefully keeping private - private.

Here's a brief video from them on the subject:



Originally posted at Google's blogspot blog

In light of the ever tightening clutches of government and those who would trust in the ACTA what does this mean for us average web users?

Any and all, as always, are welcome to comments.

-m0r

Seems like one of those wish lists we seem to get from time to time as we become more totalitarian. This may affect local cops but not the big agencies.