WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has introduced bipartisan legislation into the 119th Congress to safeguard Americans’ privacy and constitutional rights in the digital age.
On Jan. 15, Lee proposed the Non-Disclosure Order Fairness Act, which would protect the rights of U.S. citizens by restricting law enforcement from accessing individuals’ private data without appropriate notice.
“Americans have a constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures,” according to Utah’s senior senator, “including searches of private electronic communications.”
In recent years, the use of judicial non-disclosure orders (NDO’s) has surged, Lee’s staff members in Washington explain. Those orders – often referred to as secrecy or gag orders – are particularly common in cases involving electronic data like e-mails, texts and personal online information. NDO’s also prevent service providers from informing individuals that law enforcement has accessed their data.
The Non-Disclosure Order Fairness Act, they emphasize, would require the government to adhere to established legal and constitutional standards before obtaining secrecy orders for electronic searches.
Lee’s proposed legislation aims to align the criteria for electronic data searches more closely with those for physical searches, where the government must generally notify individuals unless a higher legal standard to delay such notice is met.
Specifically, the Non-Disclosure Order Fairness Act would mandate meaningful judicial review by requiring courts to issue written findings justifying the lawfulness of NDO requests and limiting their duration to 90 days, with the possibility of renewals.
The proposal would allow time limit exceptions in cases involving severe offenses, such as child exploitation.
The legislation would also enhance citizens’ protection from government overreach by affording service providers the right to challenge what they consider unlawful NDO’s.
The Non-Disclosure Order Fairness Act is being co-sponsored by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) in the Senate.
“Our bipartisan bill protects Americans’ privacy and provides needed transparency,” Lee argues, “while still allowing judge to grant non-disclosure order when truly needed to protect others from harm or preserve an ongoing investigation.”