Of all the outdated privacy laws on the books, one of the most absurd is the law known as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, or ECPA. Passed in 1986, the law defies the Constitution and commonsense — it says the government can access emails without a warrant just because they're over 180 days old. In fact, one court has said this is in clear violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Congress has a chance to fix this. S.356 would require the government to get a warrant if it wants to read your emails — just like the government needs a warrant to read your postal mail. It's about time the law caught up with technology.

Will you send an email to Sens. Kaine and Warner to let them know you support S.356 — and you want them to do the same?

Dear Senator Kaine and Senator Warner,

Our Fourth Amendment protections should be upheld online and off. Please cosponsor S.356, an important piece of bipartisan legislation that protects citizens’ privacy and ensures the government can’t access our email without a warrant.