On Monday, August 31, the U.S. House passed the bipartisan NDO Fairness Act by a unanimous vote. If enacted, this legislation will help protect the fundamental privacy rights of technology users.
The NDO Fairness Act addresses the overuse of non-disclosure orders (NDOs), also known as secrecy orders, that prevent technology companies from informing users when law enforcement wants to access their personal information stored in the cloud, such as emails, texts, photos, and other files.
Under NDOs, cloud computing companies cannot notify their customers that they are the subject of a government search.
What was an exception has now become the norm, with judges frequently approving boilerplate NDO requests from federal investigators. The practice of seeking secrecy orders is not unique to any administration or political party.
The NDO Fairness Act Provides Commonsense Solutions
The bipartisan NDO Fairness Act aims to reform the process, and if passed, would:
- End boilerplate secrecy orders by requiring judges to consider the full facts and circumstances of each order.
- Strengthen the standards prosecutors must meet to obtain an NDO.
- Limit the use of indefinite secrecy orders.
There is still a place for secrecy when it comes to national security issues or offenses involving child sexual materials, but there must be more rigorous requirements for secrecy requests.
In our democracy, secret government surveillance operations should not replace reasonable and accountable criminal investigations. The U.S. Senate must now pass this legislation to send it to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
You can learn more about this legislation in this Microsoft on the Issues blog by Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith.
