• UNITED STATES CODE
  • TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
    • PART II - CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
      • CHAPTER 205 - SEARCHES AND SEIZURES

§ 3117. Mobile tracking devices

• (a) In General. - If a court is empowered to issue a warrant or other order for the installation of a mobile tracking device, such order may authorize the use of that device within the jurisdiction of the court, and outside that jurisdiction if the device is installed in that jurisdiction.
• (b) Definition. - As used in this section, the term ''tracking device'' means an electronic or mechanical device which permits the tracking of the movement of a person or object.

§ 3121. General prohibition on pen register and trap and trace device use; exception

• (a) In General. - Except as provided in this section, no person may install or use a pen register or a trap and trace device without first obtaining a court order under section 3123 of this title or under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).
• (b) Exception. - The prohibition of subsection (a) does not apply with respect to the use of a pen register or a trap and trace device by a provider of electronic or wire communication service -
  • (1) relating to the operation, maintenance, and testing of a wire or electronic communication service or to the protection of the rights or property of such provider, or to the protection of users of that service from abuse of service or unlawful use of service; or
  • (2) to record the fact that a wire or electronic communication was initiated or completed in order to protect such provider, another provider furnishing service toward the completion of the wire communication, or a user of that service, from fraudulent, unlawful or abusive use of service; or (3) where the consent of the user of that service has been obtained.
• (c) Penalty. - Whoever knowingly violates subsection (a) shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

§ 3122. Application for an order for a pen register or a trap and trace device

• (a) Application. - (1) An attorney for the Government may make application for an order or an extension of an order under section 3123 of this title authorizing or approving the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device under this chapter, in writing under oath or equivalent affirmation, to a court of competent jurisdiction.

  (2) Unless prohibited by State law, a State investigative or law enforcement officer may make application for an order or an extension of an order under section 3123 of this title authorizing or approving the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device under this chapter, in writing under oath or equivalent affirmation, to a court of competent jurisdiction of such State.

• (b) Contents of Application. - An application under subsection (a) of this section shall include -
  • (1) the identity of the attorney for the Government or the State law enforcement or investigative officer making the application and the identity of the law enforcement agency conducting the investigation; and
  • (2) a certification by the applicant that the information likely to be obtained is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by that agency.

§ 3123. Issuance of an order for a pen register or a trap and trace device

• (a) In General. - Upon an application made under section 3122 of this title, the court shall enter an ex parte order authorizing the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device within the jurisdiction of the court if the court finds that the attorney for the Government or the State law enforcement or investigative officer has certified to the court that the information likely to be obtained by such installation and use is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation.
• (b) Contents of Order. - An order issued under this section -
  • (1) shall specify -
    • (A) the identity, if known, of the person to whom is leased or in whose name is listed the telephone line to which the pen register or trap and trace device is to be attached;
    • (B) the identity, if known, of the person who is the subject of the criminal investigation;
    • (C) the number and, if known, physical location of the telephone line to which the pen register or trap and trace device is to be attached and, in the case of a trap and trace device, the geographic limits of the trap and trace order; and
    • (D) a statement of the offense to which the information likely to be obtained by the pen register or trap and trace device relates; and
  • (2) shall direct, upon the request of the applicant, the furnishing of information, facilities, and technical assistance necessary to accomplish the installation of the pen register or trap and trace device under section 3124 of this title.
• (c) Time Period and Extensions. - (1) An order issued under this section shall authorize the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device for a period not to exceed sixty days.

  (2) Extensions of such an order may be granted, but only upon an application for an order under section 3122 of this title and upon the judicial finding required by subsection (a) of this section. The period of extension shall be for a period not to exceed sixty days.

• (d) Nondisclosure of Existence of Pen Register or a Trap and Trace Device. - An order authorizing or approving the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device shall direct that -
  • (1) the order be sealed until otherwise ordered by the court; and
  • (2) the person owning or leasing the line to which the pen register or a trap and trace device is attached, or who has been ordered by the court to provide assistance to the applicant, not disclose the existence of the pen register or trap and trace device or the existence of the investigation to the listed subscriber, or to any other person, unless or until otherwise ordered by the court.

§ 3125. Emergency pen register and trap and trace device installation

• (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, any investigative or law enforcement officer, specially designated by the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, the Associate Attorney General, any Assistant Attorney General, any acting Assistant Attorney General, or any Deputy Assistant Attorney General, or by the principal prosecuting attorney of any State or subdivision thereof acting pursuant to a statute of that State, who reasonably determines that -
  • (1) an emergency situation exists that involves -
    • (A) immediate danger of death or serious bodily injury to any person; or
    • (B) conspiratorial activities characteristic of organized crime, that requires the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device before an order authorizing such installation and use can, with due diligence, be obtained, and
  • (2) there are grounds upon which an order could be entered under this chapter to authorize such installation and use '' (FOOTNOTE 1) may have installed and use a pen register or trap and trace device if, within forty-eight hours after the installation has occurred, or begins to occur, an order approving the installation or use is issued in accordance with section 3123 of this title.'' (FOOTNOTE 1)

    (FOOTNOTE 1) So in original. A comma probably should appear after the word ''use'', the quotation marks probably should not appear, and the words beginning with ''may'' probably should appear flush left.

• (b) In the absence of an authorizing order, such use shall immediately terminate when the information sought is obtained, when the application for the order is denied or when forty-eight hours have lapsed since the installation of the pen register or trap and trace device, whichever is earlier.
• (c) The knowing installation or use by any investigative or law enforcement officer of a pen register or trap and trace device pursuant to subsection (a) without application for the authorizing order within forty-eight hours of the installation shall constitute a violation of this chapter.
• (d) A provider for a wire or electronic service, landlord, custodian, or other person who furnished facilities or technical assistance pursuant to this section shall be reasonably compensated for such reasonable expenses incurred in providing such facilities and assistance.

§ 3126. Reports concerning pen registers and trap and trace devices

§ 3127. Definitions for chapter

• (1) the terms ''wire communication'', ''electronic communication'', and ''electronic communication service'' have the meanings set forth for such terms in section 2510 of this title;
• (2) the term ''court of competent jurisdiction'' means -
  • (A) a district court of the United States (including a magistrate of such a court) or a United States Court of Appeals; or
  • (B) a court of general criminal jurisdiction of a State authorized by the law of that State to enter orders authorizing the use of a pen register or a trap and trace device;
• (3) the term ''pen register'' means a device which records or decodes electronic or other impulses which identify the numbers dialed or otherwise transmitted on the telephone line to which such device is attached, but such term does not include any device used by a provider or customer of a wire or electronic communication service for billing, or recording as an incident to billing, for communications services provided by such provider or any device used by a provider or customer of a wire communication service for cost accounting or other like purposes in the ordinary course of its business;
• (4) the term ''trap and trace device'' means a device which captures the incoming electronic or other impulses which identify the originating number of an instrument or device from which a wire or electronic communication was transmitted;
• (5) the term ''attorney for the Government'' has the meaning given such term for the purposes of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure; and
• (6) the term ''State'' means a State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and any other possession or territory of the United States.

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