Poll shows broad support for email privacy protections

WASHINGTON - The Digital 4th coalition unveiled new poll results -showing broad and diverse support for stronger email privacy protections among likely primary voters. According to a survey by Vox Populi Polling, 84 percent of Democratic voters and 75 percent of Republican voters in New Hampshire support an update to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), the 29-year-old law setting standards for government access to email and online communications.

The results also revealed that ECPA correlates more strongly with certain candidates. For instance, 86 percent of Jeb Bush supporters and 89 percent of Ted Cruz supporters are in favor of reform. On the Democratic side, 83 percent of Clinton supporters and 91 percent of Sanders supporters are behind reform.

"Support for strengthening online privacy spans across all ages, races and political affiliations. This level of support is typically unheard of in politics today. Considering implications for the upcoming 2016 elections, and the level of support among likely New Hampshire primary voters, political candidates should take notice of this overwhelming support for ECPA reform," said Michael Meyers of Vox Populi Polling.

"Privacy is an important issue, and we hope presidential candidates will support strengthening protections online. ECPA has not been updated for nearly three decades, and we are pleased to see New Hampshire voters support updating the law for the digital age," said Gabe Rottman, Legislative Counsel and Policy Advisor at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of the Digital 4th coalition.

"What's particularly illuminating is that more than two out of every three New Hampshire voters believe that the government needs to get a warrant before accessing emails and other online communications. Federal agencies like the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) have been advocating to circumvent the warrant requirement. It's clear that New Hampshire voters see this as nothing more than a power grab," said Katie McAuliffe, Federal Affairs Manager at Americans Tax Reform (ATR) of the Digital 4th coalition.

Other notable numbers from the poll include:

• 78% of New Hampshire voters feel that it is important for there to be limits on the government's access to private communications stored online like emails (77% of Republicans and 79% of Democrats).

• 71% of voters reported that a warrant should be required to access these online communications (72% of Republicans and 70% of Democrats).

• ECPA reform does have an effect on presidential candidate choice. 44% of likely New Hampshire voters stated that they would be more inclined to vote for a candidate who supported strengthening online privacy through ECPA reform (40% of Republicans and 48% of Democrats).