Tera L. Fry
BIS/220
March 10, 2014
Samuel Fowler
Information Technology Acts Information technology has been around since the earliest known man roamed the earth. What started as pictures and symbols painted on cave walls, to hammering on stone tablets as forms of communication, we now have electronic devices, such as computers and cellular smart telephones to communicate. The ever evolving advancement in information technology has created numerous ethical issues that have resulted in laws being created. As technology continues to advance, more ethical dilemmas will push the bounds. This paper will focus on two conditions that were created to protect our citizens from terrorism; Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), 1986 and Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (US Patriot Act), 2001, renewed 2006. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) focuses on privacy protections in electronic communications. This act “extended government restrictions on wire taps from telephone calls to include transmission of electronic data by computer” (Electronic Communications Privacy Act, n.d.). Prior to the creation of this act, the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, was enacted that only protected telephone conversations and what could be heard from a microphone. With growing technology, the ECPA was put into place to include computer transmission; email and stored data. The ECPA is based off the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, protection from unreasonable search and seizure and protects citizens from wire-tapping without their knowledge. The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (US Patriot Act) was established after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the continental United States. This act focuses on “arming law enforcement with new tools to detect and prevent terrorism” (The USA Patriot Act: Preserving Life and Liberty, n.d.). This act