Texas Poised To Pass Unprecedented Email Privacy Bill

An anonymous reader writes "A bill has reached the desk of Texas Governor Rick Perry that would give stronger privacy protections to email accounts than exist in any other state. If Perry signs it (or simply declines to veto it before June 16th), the legislation would force law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant before reading somebody's email, even if the email has been sitting on the server for a long time. 'As we've noted many times before, there are no such provisions in federal law once the e-mail has been opened or if it has been sitting in an inbox, unopened, for 180 days. In March 2013, the Department of Justice acknowledged in a Congressional hearing that this distinction no longer makes sense and the DOJ would support revisions to ECPA.' This bill passed the state legislature unanimously. The article points out that the legislation won't protect from federal investigations, but it will set a precedent that the U.S. Congress will surely notice. An attorney with the EFF said, 'It's significant as proof that privacy reform is not only needed, but also politically-feasible with broad bipartisan support. And hopefully that will impact federal ECPA reform efforts by getting people on both of sides of the political aisle to work together to make meaningful electronic privacy reform a reality. The more states that pass similar legislation, the more pressure it will put on Congress to keep up with the changing legal landscape.'"

Comments

Re:Texas leads the way, again

[ArcherB]

I think that makes you #1 in (Citation Needed)'s

You forgot #1 in refining, which would account for the vast majority of the issues you site (if true). Also, being such a big damn state, it doesn't surprise that Texas pollutes more than, say, Rhode Island. Do you like that plastic keyboard you are typing on? Odds are that the oil used to make it was in part either pumped from or refined in Texas. That makes you part of the problem. Stop using your keyboard, computer or anything else that uses plastic or anything else made from those evil, polluting fossil fuels or STFU.

As for children in poverty and illiteracy, again, if true, it would be due to the large number of immigrants living in the state. For example, Hidalgo County, in far South Texas is number 1 for percentage of people on food stamps at 29%. By the way, that county has to share it's #1 status with the Bronx. Hidalgo County Texas can blame immigration from Mexico. What's the Bronx's excuse? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidalgo_County,_Texas)

  #1 in executions? Yeah, we are proud of that one.

And again, with these and the others, (Citation Needed).

Re:Texas leads the way, again

[Anonymous Coward]

Education:
Census: Texas High School Graduation Rate Worst in Nation:
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/edu_hig_sch_dip_or_hig_by_per-high-school-diploma-higher-percentage

Texas DOE: Texas Ranks 49th in Literacy, 49th in Verbal SATs, 46th in Math SATs
http://www.window.state.tx.us/comptrol/wwstand/wws0512ed/

Texas Teen Birth Rate Highest in Nation:
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/hea_tee_bir_rat_per_100-birth-rate-per-1-000

Poverty:
Census: 17% of Texans Live Below the Poverty Level.
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/eco_per_bel_pov_lev-economy-percent-below-poverty-level

Dept of Labor: 9.5% of Texans Paid At or Below Minimum Wage - Nations Highest:
http://www.bls.gov/ro6/fax/minwage_tx.htm

Census: 22% of Texas Children Live Below the Poverty Level:
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/eco_per_of_chi_bel_pov_lev-percent-children-below-poverty-level

Texas 2nd in Nation for Bankruptcy Filings:
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/eco_ban_fil-economy-bankruptcy-filings

Census: Texas Ranks 47th in Percentage of Households with Retirement Income:
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/eco_per_of_hou_wit_ret_inc-economy-percent-households-retirement-income

EPI: Texas Ranks 2nd in Income Disparity
http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/studies_pulling_apart_2006/

Uninsured:

Census: Texas leads the nation in uninsured people.
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/hea_cha_in_num_uni-health-change-in-number-uninsured

Texas Ranks Last in Overall Child Health Status
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/hea_ove_chi_hea_sta-health-overall-child-status

Texas is #2 in Suicides:
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/hea_cha_in_num_uni-health-change-in-number-uninsured

Dallas News: Texas Leads Nation In Child Abuse Deaths
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/10/texas-leads-the-nation-in-chil.html

Texas Executions:
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/cri_cap_pun_tot_exe_sin_193-punishment-total-executions-since-1930

Texas Incarcerations:
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/cri_pri_und_the_jur_of_sta_or_fed_cor_aut-jurisdiction-state-federal-correctional-authorities

Census: Texas Ranks 2nd in Uninsured Children:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GRTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-_box_head_nbr=R2702&-ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format=US-30&-mt_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_R2701_US30&-CONTEXT=grt

Census: 24% of Texans are Uninsured:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GRTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-_box_head_nbr=R2701&-ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format=US-30&-mt_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_R2702_US30&-CONTEXT=grt

Re:Texas leads the way, again

[cold fjord]

No, it's terrible because they teach creationism as fact and ignore well accepted science. This is but one example.

One example of pure BS? Is there any chance the lying nitwits will give it a rest any time soon?

Chapter 112. Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science - Subchapter C. High School

(7) Science concepts. The student knows evolutionary theory is a scientific explanation for the unity and diversity of life. The student is expected to:

(A) analyze and evaluate how evidence of common ancestry among groups is provided by the fossil record, biogeography, and homologies, including anatomical, molecular, and developmental;

(B) analyze and evaluate scientific explanations concerning any data of sudden appearance, stasis, and sequential nature of groups in the fossil record;

(C) analyze and evaluate how natural selection produces change in populations, not individuals;

(D) analyze and evaluate how the elements of natural selection, including inherited variation, the potential of a population to produce more offspring than can survive, and a finite supply of environmental resources, result in differential reproductive success;

(E) analyze and evaluate the relationship of natural selection to adaptation and to the development of diversity in and among species;

(F) analyze and evaluate the effects of other evolutionary mechanisms, including genetic drift, gene flow, mutation, and recombination; and

(G) analyze and evaluate scientific explanations concerning the complexity of the cell.