NCJ Number
155142
Journal
Criminal Law Bulletin Volume: 31 Issue: 3 Dated: (May-June 1995) Pages: 195-211
Date Published
1995
Length
17 pages
Annotation
In October 1994, the U.S. House of Representatives passed digital telephony legislation supported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation because it allowed the agency to upgrade its access to new telecommunications technologies.
Abstract
However, the legislation also implemented new restrictions on the FBI's ability to investigate crimes on the information superhighway and actually represented a substantial advancement for privacy rights. The law requires telecommunications carriers to retrofit and design their systems to have the capability to isolate and intercept targeted electronic and wire communications, isolate information identifying the origin and destination of targeted communications, provide intercepted communications and call identifying information to law enforcement at a location over a line away from the carrier's premises, and carry out the interception unobtrusively and with a minimum of interference. This article discusses the impact of digital telephony on criminal law, the impact on Title III of the Omnibus Safe Streets and Crime Control Act and the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, exigent circumstance, transactional records generated, disclosure of transactional information, and anticloning offenses. 71 notes