Texas first state to mandate warrants for email surveillance

Texas Governor Rick Perry has signed a bill into law that mandates law enforcement get a warrant to access emails. The bill (HB 2268), addresses the outdated 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which allows law enforcement to obtain emails without a warrant if they are marked as "read" or if they are over 180 days old. In those situations, authorities only require a subpoena to gain access because they are considered abandoned. The bill signed into law today only covers Texans at ...