EFF joins with 11 other civil society groups to send a letter to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary opposing S. 1080, the Cooper Davis Act. 

The bill and the manager’s amendment would weaken an already insufficient privacy law and would provide a roadmap for more sweeping and overbroad carveouts. Its vague requirements and criminal penalties would result in companies over-reporting users to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for innocent, protected speech. History shows it may also encourage companies to engage in dragnet scanning of user communications, which would result in even more errors and sweep up the same voices Congress is trying to protect.

Congress should also be highly skeptical about giving law enforcement broad access to our conversations without judicial oversight. This bill contains no warrant requirement, no required notice, and limited user protections. Congress should vote No.

The other signers of the letter include:
Advocacy for Principled Action in Government
American Civil Liberties Union
Center for Democracy & Technology
Chamber of Progress
Defending Rights & Dissent
Fight for the Future
Freedom of the Press Foundation
Government Information Watch
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
R Street Institute
S.T.O.P. - Surveillance Technology Oversight Project