The bill, introduced Thursday, would permit authorities to only access data stored abroad if it relates to American citizens, and not that of foreigners. It would also require law enforcement agencies to have a warrant to access customer emails older than 180 days from US companies.
"As Congress works to reform our domestic privacy laws, we must also clarify and modernize the legal framework for government access to digital data stored around the world," Hatch said at the Reboot Congress conference, The Hill reported.
The privacy of data has been under scrutiny in the United States since 2013 after US whistleblower Edward Snowden uncovered the National Security Agency's massive surveillance programs conducted without a warrant and its sifting through databases in search of information on private US and foreign citizens, as well as that of leaders of allied countries.
