Legal Basis for Wiretaps
Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735 (1979)
18 USC 2510 et seq. (“Title III”, as amended by the ECPA)
- Complex procedure, many restrictions; a lot of justification is needed.
18 USC 3121 et seq. (pen registers and trap-and-trace devices)
- Orders are easy to obtain; simple, unchecked assertion of relevance is all that’s needed.