Privacy: An Overview of Federal Law Governing Wiretapping & Electronic Eavesdropping

It is a federal crime to wiretap or to use a machine to capture the communications of others without court approval, unless one of the parties has given their prior consent. It is likewise a federal crime to use or disclose any information acquired by illegal wiretapping or electronic eavesdropping. Violations can result in imprisonment for up to five years and fines up to $250,000 (and up to $500,000 for organisations). This book provides an overview of federal law governing wiretapping and electronic eavesdropping and the procedures they establish for law enforcement and foreign intelligence gathering purposes. It also appends citations to state law and contains a bibliography of legal commentary as well as the text of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). This book consists of public domain documents which have been located, gathered, combined, reformatted, and enhanced with a subject index, selectively edited and bound to provide easy access.