Washington, D.C. - On Oct. 18 at 11 a.m., Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) will jointly call for updating U.S. privacy law to keep pace with 21st Century technology.

The press conference comes the same week as the 25th anniversary of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), the main federal law setting standards for government surveillance of digital technologies. ECPA – signed at a time when mobile phones were the size of bricks and the World Wide Web didn't even exist – is woefully outdated, putting Americans' privacy at risk as technology continues to advance.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is co-sponsoring the press conference along with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans for Tax Reform, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Center for Democracy & Technology, the Constitution Project, and TechFreedom. Representatives of each organization, including EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston, will be on hand to answer questions.

Tuesday's conference will also include a "Retro Tech Fair," featuring various "high tech" devices from the 1980s. The display – including what was then state-of-the-art cell phones, desktop computers, and other gadgets – will spotlight just how far technology has advanced since ECPA was originally passed.

WHAT:
Media Conference and Tech Fair

WHEN:
Tuesday, Oct. 18
10 a.m. - Tech Fair begins
11 a.m. - Media Conference begins

WHERE:
U.S. Capitol Congressional Visitors Center
Room SVC 209
Washington, D.C.

MEMBERS OF THE PRESS: Please check in at the Senate Appointment Desk and be prepared to show your Congressional ID. If you do not have a Congressional ID, please contact Mark Stanley (mark@cdt.org) to get on the press list for this event.

Contacts:

Rebecca Jeschke
   Media Relations Director
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   press@eff.org

Mark Stanley 
   Center for Democracy and Technology
   mark@cdt.org