 Today, the House Judiciary Committee did something too rare in Washington – it unanimously passed a meaningful privacy reform. By voice vote, Republicans and Democrats joined together to approve the Non-Disclosure Order (NDO) Fairness Act, a bill that reins in one of the most abused secrecy powers in federal law. Credit for this privacy victory goes to Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), as well as Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD). Their leadership moved this bill out of committee. It is now up to the full House to pass this measure and send it to the Senate. The bill’s reform is sorely needed. Under current law, prosecutors can secretly dig through your phone records, emails, and other data – and then slap your telecom provider with a gag order forbidding it from ever telling you that your privacy has been violated. These nondisclosure orders can last indefinitely, leaving Americans in the dark that someone has sifted through their personal communications. The NDO Fairness Act changes that. It puts reasonable limits on gag orders, and forces prosecutors to justify any extension. It also requires courts to explain in writing why continued secrecy is necessary – whether to protect an investigation, safeguard a vulnerable person, or address a real national security concern. The NDO Fairness Act makes sunlight the default, not the exception. The House has, of course, passed the NDO Fairness Act before, only to watch it stall in the Senate. But the politics are shifting. Senators are furious after learning that Special Counsel Jack Smith secretly subpoenaed the communications of eight senators. They were justifiably upset, but their response was misguided. The Senate quietly added a provision to the recent short-term funding bill giving senators the exclusive right to sue the federal government for up to $500,000 for privacy violations. Americans don’t need a special carveout for elected officials. They need a law that protects everyone. The NDO Fairness Act does exactly that. It closes a major privacy loophole without hindering legitimate investigations, striking a balance between public safety and the Fourth Amendment rights of all Americans. The House and Senate now have a chance to fix this problem the right way – by advancing a bill that protects the people who sent them to Washington, not just themselves. Comments are closed.
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