Electronic Communications Privacy Act

E10928

United States federal statute privacy law surveillance law

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act is a U.S. federal law that governs the interception, access, and disclosure of electronic communications and associated data by government and private entities.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (3)

Surface form	Occurrences
Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986	4
ECPA	2
Wiretap Act	1

Statements (51)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States federal statute ⓘ privacy law ⓘ surveillance law ⓘ
affectedBy	USA FREEDOM Act ⓘ USA PATRIOT Act ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Title III amendments ⓘ
amends	Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 ⓘ
appliesTo	government entities ⓘ law enforcement agencies ⓘ private parties ⓘ service providers ⓘ
codifiedIn	Title 18 of the United States Code ⓘ
component	Pen Register and Trap and Trace Devices provisions ⓘ Stored Communications Act ⓘ Electronic Communications Privacy Act self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Wiretap Act
contains	exceptions for consent of a party to the communication ⓘ exceptions for law enforcement in emergency situations ⓘ exceptions for provider operations ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
effectiveDate	1986-10-21 ⓘ
enactedBy	United States Congress ⓘ
governs	access to stored electronic files ⓘ access to stored emails ⓘ real-time interception of communications ⓘ use of pen registers ⓘ use of trap and trace devices ⓘ
hasBeenCriticizedFor	outdated standards for access to stored communications based on age of data ⓘ
hasLongTermDebateOn	adequacy of privacy protections for modern cloud services ⓘ
influencedBy	advances in computer and telecommunications technology ⓘ
jurisdiction	federal ⓘ
provides	civil remedies for unlawful interception or access ⓘ criminal penalties for unlawful interception of communications ⓘ exclusionary rule for illegally obtained communications in some circumstances ⓘ
publicLawNumber	Public Law 99-508 ⓘ
purpose	to extend restrictions on wiretaps to electronic data transmissions ⓘ to protect privacy of electronic communications ⓘ
regulates	access to associated data such as metadata ⓘ access to stored electronic communications ⓘ disclosure of electronic communications ⓘ interception of electronic communications ⓘ
requires	court orders for certain interceptions ⓘ warrants or court orders for access to stored communications under specified conditions ⓘ
shortName	Electronic Communications Privacy Act self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: ECPA
signedBy	Ronald Reagan ⓘ
signingDate	1986-10-21 ⓘ
subjectMatter	cellular telephone communications ⓘ computer network communications ⓘ digital communications metadata ⓘ electronic mail ⓘ
titleOfAct	Electronic Communications Privacy Act self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986
yearEnacted	1986 ⓘ

Referenced by (13)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Public Law 99-508 → alsoKnownAs → Electronic Communications Privacy Act ⓘ

this entity surface form: Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986

Public Law 107-56 → amends → Electronic Communications Privacy Act ⓘ

USA PATRIOT Act → amends → Electronic Communications Privacy Act ⓘ

Electronic Communications Privacy Act → component → Electronic Communications Privacy Act self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Wiretap Act

99th United States Congress → enacted → Electronic Communications Privacy Act ⓘ

this entity surface form: Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986

Public Law 99-508 → hasAbbreviation → Electronic Communications Privacy Act ⓘ

this entity surface form: ECPA

Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 → hasBeenAmendedBy → Electronic Communications Privacy Act ⓘ

this entity surface form: Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986

Public Law 99-508 → hasShortName → Electronic Communications Privacy Act ⓘ

National Security Letters → legalBasis → Electronic Communications Privacy Act ⓘ

subject surface form: National Security Letter

Stored Communications Act → partOf → Electronic Communications Privacy Act ⓘ

Stored Communications Act → relatedTo → Electronic Communications Privacy Act ⓘ

Electronic Communications Privacy Act → shortName → Electronic Communications Privacy Act self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: ECPA

Electronic Communications Privacy Act → titleOfAct → Electronic Communications Privacy Act self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986