I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1852 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to update the privacy protections 
for electronic communications information that is stored by third-party 
service providers in order to protect consumer privacy interests while 
meeting law enforcement needs, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 7, 2013 
Mr. YODER (for himself and Mr. GRAVES of Georgia) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to update the privacy 
protections for electronic communications information 
that is stored by third-party service providers in order 
to protect consumer privacy interests while meeting law 
enforcement needs, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Email Privacy Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONFIDENTIALITY OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICA-
TIONS. 
Section 2702(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(3) a provider of remote computing service or 
electronic communication service to the public shall 
not knowingly divulge to any governmental entity 
the contents of any communication described in sec-
tion 2703(a), or any record or other information 
pertaining to a subscriber or customer of such serv-
ice.’’. 
SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF 180-DAY RULE; SEARCH WARRANT 
REQUIREMENT; REQUIRED DISCLOSURE OF 
CUSTOMER RECORDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2703 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking subsections (a), (b), and (c) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(a) CONTENTS OF WIRE OR ELECTRONIC COMMU-
NICATIONS.—A governmental entity may require the dis-
closure by a provider of electronic communication service 
or remote computing service of the contents of a wire or 
electronic communication that is in electronic storage with 
or otherwise stored, held, or maintained by the provider 
only if the governmental entity obtains a warrant issued 
using the procedures described in the Federal Rules of 
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Criminal Procedure (or, in the case of a State court, 
issued using State warrant procedures) that is issued by 
a court of competent jurisdiction directing the disclosure. 
‘‘(b) NOTICE.—Except as provided in section 2705, 
not later than 10 business days in the case of a law en-
forcement agency, or not later than 3 business days in 
the case of any other governmental entity, after a govern-
mental entity receives the contents of a wire or electronic 
communication of a subscriber or customer from a pro-
vider of electronic communication service or remote com-
puting service under subsection (a), the governmental en-
tity shall serve upon, or deliver to by registered or first- 
class mail, electronic mail, or other means reasonably cal-
culated to be effective, as specified by the court issuing 
the warrant, the subscriber or customer— 
‘‘(1) a copy of the warrant; and 
‘‘(2) a notice that includes the information re-
ferred to in clauses (i) and (ii) of section 
2705(a)(4)(B). 
‘‘(c) RECORDS CONCERNING ELECTRONIC COMMU-
NICATION SERVICE OR REMOTE COMPUTING SERVICE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 
governmental entity may require a provider of elec-
tronic communication service or remote computing 
service to disclose a record or other information per-
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taining to a subscriber or customer of the provider 
or service (not including the contents of communica-
tions), only if the governmental entity— 
‘‘(A) obtains a warrant issued using the 
procedures described in the Federal Rules of 
Criminal Procedure (or, in the case of a State 
court, issued using State warrant procedures) 
that is issued by a court of competent jurisdic-
tion directing the disclosure; 
‘‘(B) obtains a court order directing the 
disclosure under subsection (d); 
‘‘(C) has the consent of the subscriber or 
customer to the disclosure; or 
‘‘(D) submits a formal written request rel-
evant to a law enforcement investigation con-
cerning telemarketing fraud for the name, ad-
dress, and place of business of a subscriber or 
customer of the provider or service that is en-
gaged in telemarketing (as defined in section 
2325). 
‘‘(2) INFORMATION TO BE DISCLOSED.—A pro-
vider of electronic communication service or remote 
computing service shall, in response to an adminis-
trative subpoena authorized by Federal or State 
statute, a grand jury, trial, or civil discovery sub-
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poena, or any means authorized under paragraph 
(1), disclose to a governmental entity the— 
‘‘(A) name; 
‘‘(B) address; 
‘‘(C) local and long distance telephone con-
nection records, or records of session times and 
durations; 
‘‘(D) length of service (including start 
date) and types of service used; 
‘‘(E) telephone or instrument number or 
other subscriber number or identity, including 
any temporarily assigned network address; and 
‘‘(F) means and source of payment for 
such service (including any credit card or bank 
account number), of a subscriber or customer of 
such service. 
‘‘(3) NOTICE NOT REQUIRED.—A governmental 
entity that receives records or information under 
this subsection is not required to provide notice to 
a subscriber or customer.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion or in section 2702 shall be construed to limit the au-
thority of a governmental entity to use an administrative 
subpoena authorized under a Federal or State statute or 
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to use a Federal or State grand jury, trial, or civil dis-
covery subpoena to— 
‘‘(1) require an originator, addressee, or in-
tended recipient of an electronic communication to 
disclose the contents of the electronic communication 
to the governmental entity; or 
‘‘(2) require an entity that provides electronic 
communication services to the officers, directors, em-
ployees, or agents of the entity (for the purpose of 
carrying out their duties) to disclose the contents of 
an electronic communication to or from an officer, 
director, employee, or agent of the entity to a gov-
ernmental entity, if the electronic communication is 
held, stored, or maintained on an electronic commu-
nications system owned or operated by the entity.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
Section 2703(d) of title 18, United States Code, is amend-
ed— 
(1) by striking ‘‘A court order for disclosure 
under subsection (b) or (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘A court 
order for disclosure under subsection (c)’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘the contents of a wire or elec-
tronic communication, or’’. 
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SEC. 4. DELAYED NOTICE. 
Section 2705 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 2705. DELAYED NOTICE. 
‘‘(a) DELAY OF NOTIFICATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A governmental entity that 
is seeking a warrant under section 2703(a) may in-
clude in the application for the warrant a request for 
an order delaying the notification required under 
section 2703(b) for a period of not more than 180 
days in the case of a law enforcement agency, or not 
more than 90 days in the case of any other govern-
mental entity. 
‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—A court shall grant a 
request for delayed notification made under para-
graph (1) if the court determines that there is rea-
son to believe that notification of the existence of the 
warrant may result in— 
‘‘(A) endangering the life or physical safety 
of an individual; 
‘‘(B) flight from prosecution; 
‘‘(C) destruction of or tampering with evi-
dence; 
‘‘(D) intimidation of potential witnesses; or 
‘‘(E) otherwise seriously jeopardizing an 
investigation or unduly delaying a trial. 
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‘‘(3) EXTENSION.—Upon request by a govern-
mental entity, a court may grant one or more exten-
sions of the delay of notification granted under para-
graph (2) of not more than 180 days in the case of 
a law enforcement agency, or not more than 90 days 
in the case of any other governmental entity. 
‘‘(4) EXPIRATION OF THE DELAY OF NOTIFICA-
TION.—Upon expiration of the period of delay of no-
tification under paragraph (2) or (3), the govern-
mental entity shall serve upon, or deliver to by reg-
istered or first-class mail, electronic mail, or other 
means reasonably calculated to be effective as speci-
fied by the court approving the search warrant, the 
customer or subscriber— 
‘‘(A) a copy of the warrant; and 
‘‘(B) notice that informs the customer or 
subscriber— 
‘‘(i) of the nature of the law enforce-
ment inquiry with reasonable specificity; 
‘‘(ii) that information maintained for 
the customer or subscriber by the provider 
of electronic communication service or re-
mote computing service named in the proc-
ess or request was supplied to, or re-
quested by, the governmental entity; 
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‘‘(iii) of the date on which the warrant 
was served on the provider and the date on 
which the information was provided by the 
provider to the governmental entity; 
‘‘(iv) that notification of the customer 
or subscriber was delayed; 
‘‘(v) the identity of the court author-
izing the delay; and 
‘‘(vi) of the provision of this chapter 
under which the delay was authorized. 
‘‘(b) PRECLUSION OF NOTICE TO SUBJECT OF GOV-
ERNMENTAL ACCESS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A governmental entity that 
is obtaining the contents of a communication or in-
formation or records under section 2703 may apply 
to a court for an order directing a provider of elec-
tronic communication service or remote computing 
service to which a warrant, order, subpoena, or other 
directive under section 2703 is directed not to notify 
any other person of the existence of the warrant, 
order, subpoena, or other directive for a period of 
not more than 180 days in the case of a law enforce-
ment agency, or not more than 90 days in the case 
of any other governmental entity. 
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‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—A court shall grant a 
request for an order made under paragraph (1) if 
the court determines that there is reason to believe 
that notification of the existence of the warrant, 
order, subpoena, or other directive may result in— 
‘‘(A) endangering the life or physical safety 
of an individual; 
‘‘(B) flight from prosecution; 
‘‘(C) destruction of or tampering with evi-
dence; 
‘‘(D) intimidation of potential witnesses; or 
‘‘(E) otherwise seriously jeopardizing an 
investigation or unduly delaying a trial. 
‘‘(3) EXTENSION.—Upon request by a govern-
mental entity, a court may grant one or more exten-
sions of an order granted under paragraph (2) of 
not more than 180 days in the case of a law enforce-
ment agency, or not more than 90 days in the case 
of any other governmental entity. 
‘‘(4) PRIOR NOTICE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT.— 
Upon expiration of the period of delay of notice 
under this section, and not later than 3 business 
days before providing notice to a customer or sub-
scriber, a provider of electronic communication serv-
ice or remote computing service shall notify the gov-
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ernmental entity that obtained the contents of a 
communication or information or records under sec-
tion 2703 of the intent of the provider of electronic 
communication service or remote computing service 
to notify the customer or subscriber of the existence 
of the warrant, order, or subpoena seeking that in-
formation. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this section and section 2703, 
the term ‘law enforcement agency’ means an agency of the 
United States, a State, or a political subdivision of a 
State, authorized by law or by a government agency to 
engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investiga-
tion, or prosecution of any violation of criminal law, or 
any other Federal or State agency conducting a criminal 
investigation.’’. 
SEC. 5. EVALUATION BY THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT-
ABILITY OFFICE. 
Not later than September 30, 2015, the Comptroller 
General of the United States shall submit to Congress a 
report regarding the disclosure of customer communica-
tions and records under section 2703 of title 18, United 
States Code, which shall include— 
(1) an analysis and evaluation of such disclo-
sure under section 2703 of title 18, United States 
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Code, as in effect before the date of enactment of 
this Act, including— 
(A) a comprehensive analysis and evalua-
tion regarding the number of individual in-
stances, in each of the 5 years before the year 
in which this Act is enacted, in which Federal, 
State, or local law enforcement officers used 
section 2703 of title 18, United States Code, to 
obtain information relevant to an ongoing 
criminal investigation; 
(B) an analysis of the average length of 
time taken by a provider of an electronic com-
munication service or a remote computing serv-
ice to comply with requests by law enforcement 
officers for information under section 2703 of 
title 18, United States Code; 
(C) the number of individual instances, in 
each of the 5 years before the year in which 
this Act is enacted, in which information was 
requested by law enforcement officers from a 
provider of an electronic communication service 
or a remote computing service under a warrant 
as authorized under section 2703(a) of title 18, 
United States Code; 
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(D) the number of individual instances and 
type of request, in each of the 5 years before 
the year in which this Act is enacted, in which 
information was requested by law enforcement 
officers from a provider of an electronic com-
munication service or a remote computing serv-
ice under the other information request provi-
sions in section 2703 of title 18, United States 
Code; and 
(E) the number of individual instances, in 
each of the 5 years before the year in which 
this Act is enacted, in which law enforcement 
officers requested delayed notification to the 
subscriber or customer under section 2705 of 
title 18, United States Code; and 
(2) an analysis and evaluation of such disclo-
sure under section 2703 of title 18, United States 
Code, as amended by this Act, including— 
(A) an evaluation of the effects of the 
amendments to the warrant requirements on 
judges, court dockets, or any other court oper-
ations; 
(B) a survey of Federal, State, and local 
judges and law enforcement officers to deter-
mine the average length of time required for 
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providers of an electronic communication serv-
ice or a remote computing service to provide the 
contents of communications requested under a 
search warrant, which shall include identifying 
the number of instances in which a judge was 
required to order a provider of an electronic 
communication service or a remote computing 
service to appear to show cause for failing to 
comply with a warrant or to issue an order of 
contempt against a provider of an electronic 
communication service or a remote computing 
service for such a failure; and 
(C) determining whether the amendments 
to the warrant requirements resulted in an in-
crease in the use of the emergency exception 
under section 2702(b)(8) of title 18, United 
States Code. 
SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this 
Act shall be construed to preclude the acquisition by the 
United States Government of— 
(1) the contents of a wire or electronic commu-
nication pursuant to other lawful authorities, includ-
ing the authorities under chapter 119 of title 18 
(commonly known as the ‘‘Wiretap Act’’), the For-
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eign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 
U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), or any other provision of Fed-
eral law not specifically amended by this Act; or 
(2) records or other information relating to a 
subscriber or customer of any electronic communica-
tions service or remote computing service (not in-
cluding the content of such communications) pursu-
ant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 
1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), chapter 119 of title 
18 (commonly known as the ‘‘Wiretap Act’’), or any 
other provision of Federal law not specifically 
amended by this Act. 
Æ 
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