i2Coalition, Senators Cornyn and Cruz’s Offices Tour Data Foundry Data Center

Group meets with tech leaders and discusses policy issues

Austin, TX – Christian Dawson, Internet Infrastructure Coalition (i2Coalition) Co-Founder and Board Chair, today joined members of Senators Cornyn and Cruz’s offices and tech leaders from across the country to tour Data Foundry’s Texas 1 data center in Austin. Texas 1 is Texas’ newest and most energy-efficient data center. The group discussed “cloud-computing” and the efficiencies it brings, and privacy legislation at both the state and federal levels.

“We are grateful to Senators Cornyn and Cruz’s staff for taking the time to be with us today, and we appreciate Data Foundry helping educate lawmakers about the Internet infrastructure industry,” said Christian Dawson, i2Coalition Co-Founder and Board Chair. “As one of our founding members, Data Foundry is a valued partner of i2Coalition, and they continue to be a leader in our fight to protect an open and free Internet. We look forward to working with them and all of our members as we educate members of Congress about the importance of protecting customer privacy because we believe there must be greater transparency about U.S. government access to private data stored online.”

Founded in 1994, Data Foundry was the first Internet Service Provider in San Antonio and one of the first 50 Internet Service Providers in the United States. Data Foundry is the premier experience-based data center outsourcing, colocation, disaster recovery and managed services provider. The company provides its customers with secure premium facilities for servers and equipment, emergency workspace and carrier-neutral network accessibility, supported by experienced onsite technicians and customer support 24/7/365. With a global presence, the company supports more than 1,000 enterprise customers across a variety of industries including energy, healthcare and financial services.

“We thank i2Coalition and the Senators’ offices for joining us here today, and look forward to continuing the discussion on the importance of electronic privacy,” said Ron Yokubaitis, Founder and Co-CEO of Data Foundry. “Texas’ recent privacy-enhancing update to its version of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act will be the nation’s strongest email privacy bill. We hope the U.S. Senate and House will use Texas as an example for the rest of the nation.”

The i2Coalition has been at the forefront of the discussions to reform ECPA at the federal level, which the group discussed today while at Data Foundry. Enacted in 1986, ECPA specified standards for law enforcement agencies’ access to electronic communications and other data, and gave important privacy protections to subscribers of emerging wireless and Internet technologies. Technology has advanced dramatically since 1986, and there are currently efforts in Congress to reform ECPA to bring it up to date.

“The i2Coalition supports a warrant requirement for all government searches of email and other electronic communications, which would establish consistent privacy protections,” said Dawson. “The fourth amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring a warrant supported by probable cause, and revision to ECPA should ensure that constitutional guarantees of due process are upheld. ECPA reform needs to be addressed now, which is why we will be discussing it tomorrow during HostingCon.”

i2Coalition has organized a series of “Issues and Trends” panels tomorrow at HostingCon in Austin. Among the panels are one moderated by Dawson entitled The Internet in 2020: The Fight for Our Future and The Future of Customer Privacy, looking at ECPA and other privacy issues. To see the full schedule of the i2Coalition’s panels click here.

Data Foundry “Texas 1” Tour Participants

Amy Bowen, Gandi.net

Chris Boyd, Midas Green Tech

Grover Bynum, Austin Technology Council

Jim Cardle, Texas Insider

Michael Cohen, Data Foundry

Elizabeth Cox, Senator Cornyn’s Central Texas Deputy Regional Director

Christian Dawson, Internet Infrastructure Coalition

Sandy Edwards, Senator Cornyn’s Central Texas Regional Director

Justin Freeman, Rackspace

Kurt Hagerman, Firehost

Edward Henigin, Data Foundry

Andy MacFarlane, Data Foundry

Katie McAuliffe, Americans for Tax Reform

Jon McClellan, Senator Cruz’s State Outreach Director

Mike McGeary, Engine Advocacy

Shane Menking, Data Foundry

Ryan Neading, eBay

Greg Nojeim, Center for Democracy and Technology

Lela Pittenger, Senator Cruz’s Central Texas Regional Director

Mick Siebert, eBay

Thomas Stocking, Gandi.net