NDO Fairness Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Senator Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Introduced
Summary
Would allow courts to pause or bar notice to named subscribers in certain electronic communications orders. It would set limits of up to 1 year for child exploitation offenses and up to 90 days for other investigations. The bill adds procedures for extensions, reassessments when circumstances change, and rules about who may be told while a delay is in place.
Show full summary
- Named customers and subscribers would sometimes not be told about warrants or subpoenas against their accounts. After an order ends they would get notice and could request copies of disclosed records within a 180-day window, with limited redactions for investigative integrity.
- Service providers would be required to comply with narrowly tailored nondisclosure orders but could share information with those needed to comply or to get legal advice. Orders may not require informing the requesting government entity when the delay ends.
- Members of the news media gain specific visibility because the bill requires reporting the number of orders affecting press-related conduct.
- The Department of Justice must publish a district-level annual report listing counts of applications, grants, denials, extensions, orders affecting the media, and arrests, trials, and convictions tied to those orders, plus a description of how the numbers were determined.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
New secrecy rules for customer records
This bill would let the government ask a court to order providers not to tell anyone about a warrant, order, or subpoena. Secrecy orders could last up to 1 year for child pornography or sexual exploitation of children cases, and up to 90 days for other cases. Courts would have to write specific factual findings and say which harm (like danger to life, flight, or evidence tampering) justifies secrecy, and orders must be narrowly tailored with no less restrictive alternative. Applications would have to say whether the named customer knows about the order and whether the customer is suspected of a crime, and courts could require reassessment if circumstances change within 14 days.
Notice, copies, and provider rights
If enacted, when a secrecy order ends the government would have to send the named customer a copy of the warrant or order and a notice within 5 business days by at least two delivery methods. The named customer would have 180 days after that notice to ask for copies of the information the provider gave to the government. The government would not have to provide illicit materials or child sexual‑exploitation material. Providers could share information only as needed to comply, to get legal advice, or to notify people the court allows, and providers could challenge or ask the court to change or end a secrecy order (a filed challenge would pause disclosure unless the court lifts the pause). Redactions after notice would be allowed only if a court finds them necessary, and the government must give the provider a copy of the underlying warrant when serving the secrecy order or any extension.
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Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
DE • D
Cosponsors
Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT]
UT • R
Sponsored 1/15/2026
Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN]
TN • R
Sponsored 2/9/2026
Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX]
TX • R
Sponsored 2/9/2026
Peter Welch
VT • D
Sponsored 2/11/2026
Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
IL • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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