Testimony submitted by the ACLU to the House's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties explaining why the Electronic Communications Privacy Act must be updated: 

The Founding Fathers recognized that citizens in a democracy need privacy for their “persons, houses, papers, and effects.” That remains as true as ever. But our privacy laws have not kept up as technology has changed the way we hold information. Thomas Jefferson knew the papers and effects he stored in his office at Monticello would remain private. Today’s citizens deserve no less protection just because their “papers and effects” might be stored electronically.

The main statutory protection for the privacy of communications, ECPA, was written in 1986 before the Web was even invented. Technology has not only advanced tremendously since 1986, it has also become an essential part of our lives. It impacts how we learn, share, shop and connect. We need an updated ECPA to match our modern online world.