From EPIC, yesterday:
In an order today, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a decision concerning e-mail privacy. In Jennings v. Broome, the South Carolina Supreme Court held that the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) does not protect emails stored on remote computer servers. As a result of this case, users in South Carolina have lesser privacy protections than those in California where a federal court reached the opposite conclusion. EPIC, joined by 18 national organization filed an amicus brief, urging the US Supreme Court to clarify the scope of e-mail privacy protections. For more information, see EPIC: Jennings v. Broomeand EPIC: Electronic Communications Privacy Act
It’s unfortunate that the court does not explain why it declines to review a case. In the meantime, Congress has failed to update ECPA to clarify and strengthen protections that we need in a digital world.