Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Facebook all say that they require full warrants in order to provide the contents of emails and messages to government entities, The Hill reports. That's a higher standard than currently required by US law, which as of now is largely defined by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). The ECPA was passed in 1986 and sets a relatively low bar for accessing private data — but Senator Patrick Leahy has been trying to pass a revision that would require warrants, though the bill stalled out in the last Congress.
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