Warrant for Metadata Act

The "Warrant for Metadata Act" proposes significant amendments to Title 18, United States Code, specifically Section 2703, to enhance privacy protections for electronic communications. Its primary purpose is to mandate that governmental entities obtain a judicial warrant before compelling the disclosure of non-content records, including metadata , from providers of electronic communication or remote computing services. This legislation removes existing distinctions based on the age of stored communications, ensuring that all such data is subject to the same stringent warrant requirement. The bill specifically strikes provisions that previously allowed access to subscriber information and metadata with a lesser legal standard, such as a court order based on "specific and articulable facts," or without a warrant for data stored over 180 days. While not retroactively affecting past disclosures, any subsequent or expanded requests for such data made after the bill's enactment would necessitate a new warrant under the amended law.