EPIC - House Committee Approves Controversial Measure to Require Data Retention for All Internet Users

Data Retention legislation policy Privacy

House Committee Approves Controversial Measure to Require Data Retention for All Internet Users

The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted to approve a bill that will require Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to retain data on every customer to allow the government to identify and track their online activity for one year. EPIC Director Marc Rotenberg testified against the bill at the subcommittee hearing, and his arguments were cited by committee members including Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). After two days of deliberation, the bill was passed with an amendment to require ISPs to retain even more information: not only internet protocol addresses, but also customer names, addresses, phone records, type and length of service, and credit card numbers. This retention is a radical contradiction of the core American value that we are innocent until proven guilty, said Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). The bill purports to use the data to prosecute child pornography, but Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) was "not convinced it will contribute in any meaningful way to prosecuting child pornography," and Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) stated that it is an "unprecedented power grab by the federal government - it goes way beyond fighting child pornography." Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA) pointed out the data would be available for many other uses, including copyright prosecution and divorce cases. This data will be made available to law enforcement officers without a warrant or judicial oversight, and is a convenient way for law enforcement to get powers they couldn't get in the Patriot Act, said Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA). For more information, see EPIC- Data Retention.