NDO Fairness Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill, introduced by Senators Coons and Lee, changes how the government can secretly look at your digital information. Currently, when law enforcement asks a company like Google or Apple for your emails or files, they can often get a "gag order" that prevents the company from telling you about it.
• The new rules would limit most of these secret orders to 90 days. For cases involving child exploitation, the secret period could last up to one year. If the government wants to keep the search a secret for longer, they would have to go back to a judge and prove why it is still necessary.
• Judges would be required to provide a written explanation for why a secret search is allowed. They must find that telling the person would likely lead to physical danger, someone running away from the law, or the destruction of evidence.
• Once a secret order expires, the government must notify the person that their data was searched. Within 180 days of that notice, the person can ask for a copy of the information the government collected, though illegal materials would not be returned.
• The bill allows tech companies to challenge these secret orders in court if they believe the request is unreasonable or illegal. While a challenge is being decided, the company would not have to hand over the data unless a judge specifically orders them to do so.
• To ensure transparency, the Attorney General would be required to publish a yearly report. This report would show how many people had their data searched, how many secret orders were issued, and how many of those cases led to actual arrests or convictions.