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Congress·In Committee·about 2 months ago

Bipartisan Bill Targets Secret Government Access to Private Emails and Cloud Data

Also known as: NDO Fairness Act of 2026

Legislative Progress

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Review
Senate
House
President

Impact Analysis

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

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.
Civil RightsCriminal JusticeTechnology Digital

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions
Jan 15, 2026Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Jan 15, 2026

Introduced in Senate

Related News

4 articles
VitalLaw·about 1 month ago

Bill to Restrict Surveillance Secrecy Orders on House Agenda Next Week

Legislation that would limit the power of law enforcement to prevent service providers from notifying customers whose communications are being monitored is scheduled for House consideration. The NDO Fairness Act (H.R. 6048) would end automatic 'gag orders' that keep individuals in the dark.

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VitalLaw·about 2 months ago

House Bill on Surveillance Secrecy Orders Gets Senate Companion

Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to limit law enforcement's ability to impose NDOs on service providers. The bill would limit most secrecy orders to 90 days, with special one-year provisions for child exploitation cases.

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Utah Policy·about 2 months ago

Sens. Lee, Coons introduce bipartisan NDO Fairness Act

Senator Mike Lee and Senator Chris Coons introduced legislation to safeguard Americans' privacy by restricting law enforcement from accessing private data without disclosure. The bill mandates meaningful judicial review and limits the duration of secrecy orders to 90 days.

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Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

NDO Fairness Act of 2026

Bill NumberS 3663
Congress119th Congress
ChamberSenate
Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(1)
R: 1

Analysis generated by AI. While we strive for accuracy, this should not be considered legal or professional advice. Always verify information with official government sources.