NCJ Number
109313
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 57 Issue: 2 Dated: (February 1988) Pages: 25-30
Date Published
1988
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This first part of a three-part article identifies and discusses problem areas that led to the passage of the Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA), which significantly alters the procedure that Federal, State, and local law enforcement officers must follow to intercept communications and to acquire transactional information.
Abstract
Prior to the passage of the ECPA, a law enforcement officer who planned to conduct electronic surveillance, such as wiretapping or bugging, had to proceed under two legal constraints that remain in effect today. First, the fourth amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. Second, Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, or its State counterparts, regulate the use of electronic surveillance. Since the enactment of Title III, however, the types of communications facilities and their technological sophistication have changed dramatically. Current technologically advanced communications include cellular and cordless telephones, paging devices, and electronic communications and computer messages. Title III does not take into account the government's use of pen registers or dialed number recorders as well as trap and trace devices. These devices allow police to acquire the telephone numbers dialed from a telephone or the number of a telephone from which a call originates. The ECPA amends Title III to require police to obtain an extraordinary wiretap-type order to nonconsensually intercept electronic communications, and it requires police to follow specific statutory procedures before using pen registers and trap and trace devices. The ECPA also addresses issues involving public communications and service providers. Parts two and three of this article will examine provisions of the ECPA. 23 footnotes.