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Email on Gmail (or on any cloud email service provider subject to US jurisdiction) older than 180 days is available upon request without a warrant. > Under ECP

Email on Gmail (or on any cloud email service provider subject to US jurisdiction) older than 180 days is available upon request without a warrant. > Under ECPA, it is relatively easy for a government agency to demand service providers hand over personal consumer data stored on the service provider's servers. Email that is stored on a third party's server for more than 180 days is considered by the law to be abandoned. All that is required to obtain the content of the emails by a law enforcement agency is a written statement certifying that the information is relevant to an investigation, without judicial review. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Communications_Privacy_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Communications_Priv...

eurleif 1y ago
That's the statute, but arguably it's superseded by the Fourth Amendment, and many companies have a policy of treating it as such. Google's policy[0] is to disregard the ECPA 180 day rule, and to always require a warrant for content: >On its face, ECPA seems to allow a government agency to compel a communications provider to disclose the content of certain types of emails and other content with a subpoena or an ECPA court order (described below). But Google requires an ECPA search warrant for contents of Gmail and other services based on the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable search and seizure. Essentially, they're saying that they think they would win a constitutional challenge if the government were to try and fight them on this. It doesn't look like the government has taken them up on that to date. Similar policy from Apple[1]: > For all requests from government and law enforcement agencies within the United States for content, with the exception of emergency circumstances (defined in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act 1986, as amended), Apple will only provide content in response to a search warrant issued upon a showing of probable cause, or customer consent. Meta[2]: >A search warrant issued under the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure or equivalent state warrant procedures upon a showing of probable cause is required to compel the disclosure of the stored contents of any account, which may include messages, photos, videos, timeline posts, and location information. [0] https://support.google.com/transparencyreport/answer/9700059#zippy=%2Cwhats-the-difference-between-a-subpoena-a-search-warrant-and-a-court-order-under-ecpa-what-information-can-a-government-agency-get-from-google-with-each https://support.google.com/transparencyreport/answer/9700059... [1] https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/law-enforcement-guidelines-us.pdf https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/law-enforcement-guidelin... [2] https://about.meta.com/actions/safety/audiences/law/guidelines https://about.meta.com/actions/safety/audiences/law/guidelin...
hsbauauvhabzb 1y ago
Is ‘stored’ in this context implying unread also, or is using IMAP to maintain a local and remote sync considered ‘abandoned’?
1vuio0pswjnm7 1y ago
Does Google make it easy for users to save and search through old mail.

eurleif 1y ago

That's the statute, but arguably it's superseded by the Fourth Amendment, and many companies have a policy of treating it as such. Google's policy[0] is to disregard the ECPA 180 day rule, and to always require a warrant for content: >On its face, ECPA seems to allow a government agency to compel a communications provider to disclose the content of certain types of emails and other content with a subpoena or an ECPA court order (described below). But Google requires an ECPA search warrant for contents of Gmail and other services based on the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable search and seizure. Essentially, they're saying that they think they would win a constitutional challenge if the government were to try and fight them on this. It doesn't look like the government has taken them up on that to date. Similar policy from Apple[1]: > For all requests from government and law enforcement agencies within the United States for content, with the exception of emergency circumstances (defined in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act 1986, as amended), Apple will only provide content in response to a search warrant issued upon a showing of probable cause, or customer consent. Meta[2]: >A search warrant issued under the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure or equivalent state warrant procedures upon a showing of probable cause is required to compel the disclosure of the stored contents of any account, which may include messages, photos, videos, timeline posts, and location information. [0] https://support.google.com/transparencyreport/answer/9700059#zippy=%2Cwhats-the-difference-between-a-subpoena-a-search-warrant-and-a-court-order-under-ecpa-what-information-can-a-government-agency-get-from-google-with-each https://support.google.com/transparencyreport/answer/9700059... [1] https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/law-enforcement-guidelines-us.pdf https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/law-enforcement-guidelin... [2] https://about.meta.com/actions/safety/audiences/law/guidelines https://about.meta.com/actions/safety/audiences/law/guidelin...

hsbauauvhabzb 1y ago

Is ‘stored’ in this context implying unread also, or is using IMAP to maintain a local and remote sync considered ‘abandoned’?

1vuio0pswjnm7 1y ago

Does Google make it easy for users to save and search through old mail.