18 U.S.C. § 2703
Required disclosure of customer communications or records
United States · Title 18 — CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE · Status: effective
Cite this
- Citation
- 18 U.S.C. § 2703, Required disclosure of customer communications or records, United States, version 1 as recorded 2026-07-09, yourstate.us, https://yourstate.us/provision/449669
- Permanent ID
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Full text
A governmental entity may require a provider of remote computing service to disclose the contents of any wire or electronic communication to which this paragraph is made applicable by paragraph (2) of this subsection—
with prior notice from the governmental entity to the subscriber or customer if the governmental entity—
Paragraph (1) is applicable with respect to any wire or electronic communication that is held or maintained on that service—
A governmental entity may require a provider of electronic communication service or remote computing service to disclose a record or other information pertaining to a subscriber to or customer of such service (not including the contents of communications) only when the governmental entity—
A provider of electronic communication service or remote computing service shall disclose to a governmental entity the—
In this subsection—
the term “qualifying foreign government” means a foreign government—
A provider of electronic communication service to the public or remote computing service, including a foreign electronic communication service or remote computing service, that is being required to disclose pursuant to legal process issued under this section the contents of a wire or electronic communication of a subscriber or customer, may file a motion to modify or quash the legal process where the provider reasonably believes—
Such a motion shall be filed not later than 14 days after the date on which the provider was served with the legal process, absent agreement with the government or permission from the court to extend the deadline based on an application made within the 14 days. The right to move to quash is without prejudice to any other grounds to move to quash or defenses thereto, but it shall be the sole basis for moving to quash on the grounds of a conflict of law related to a qualifying foreign government.
Upon receipt of a motion filed pursuant to subparagraph (A), the court shall afford the governmental entity that applied for or issued the legal process under this section the opportunity to respond. The court may modify or quash the legal process, as appropriate, only if the court finds that—
For purposes of making a determination under paragraph (2)(B)(ii), the court shall take into account, as appropriate—
Legislative history
The public laws that enacted or amended this section. Tallies are for the whole bill as it passed each chamber — often an omnibus covering far more than this provision — not a vote on this section alone.
- Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994
- Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement ActHouse: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
- Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Economic Espionage Act of 1996House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Telemarketing Fraud Prevention Act of 1998House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001
- 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization ActHouse: 400–4Senate: no recorded tally
- Homeland Security Act of 2002
- Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005House: 415–4Senate: no recorded tally
- Foreign Evidence Request Efficiency Act of 2009House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017
- Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018House: 256–167Senate: no recorded tally
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2018House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally