Stored Communications Act

E66413

The Stored Communications Act is a U.S. federal law that governs government and third-party access to stored electronic communications and associated data held by service providers.


Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal statute
computer law
privacy law
allows court orders for certain transactional records
subpoenas for certain non-content records
amendedBy USA FREEDOM Act
USA PATRIOT Act
appliesTo electronic communication service providers
remote computing service providers
codifiedAs 18 U.S.C. §§ 2701–2712
codifiedIn Title 18 of the United States Code
contains exceptions for emergency disclosures
exceptions for provider self-defense and service protection
exceptions for user consent
country United States of America
surface form: "United States"
dateEnacted 1986-10-21
defines electronic communication service
remote computing service
enactedBy United States Congress
fullName Stored Communications Act
surface form: "Stored Wire and Electronic Communications and Transactional Records Access Act"
governs government access to stored communications
third-party access to stored communications
imposes restrictions on voluntary disclosure of communications by providers
influencedBy advances in electronic mail technology
jurisdiction federal
partOf Electronic Communications Privacy Act
provides civil remedies for unauthorized access to stored communications
criminal penalties for unauthorized access to stored communications
purpose to protect privacy of stored electronic communications
to regulate law enforcement access to stored communications data
regulates access to electronic communication records
access to stored electronic communications
access to stored wire communications
access to subscriber records
relatedTo Electronic Communications Privacy Act
Fourth Amendment privacy issues
requires warrants for certain content of communications
section 18 U.S.C. § 2701
18 U.S.C. § 2702
18 U.S.C. § 2703
18 U.S.C. § 2707
18 U.S.C. § 2711
shortName SCA
signedBy Ronald Reagan
subjectOf Carpenter v. United States
Microsoft Corp. v. United States
United States v. Warshak
yearEnacted 1986

Referenced by (5)

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

Electronic Communications Privacy Act component Stored Communications Act
Public Law 99-508 component Stored Communications Act
this entity surface form: "Title II – Stored Communications Act"
Public Law 99-508 creates Stored Communications Act
Stored Communications Act fullName Stored Communications Act
this entity surface form: "Stored Wire and Electronic Communications and Transactional Records Access Act"
Public Law 99-508 relatedTo Stored Communications Act