Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!killer!vector!telecom-gateway From: cliff%cfa204@harvard.harvard.edu (Cliff Stoll) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Do you need a court order to trace a phone? Message-ID: Date: 13 Mar 89 21:24:39 GMT Sender: news@vector.UUCP Lines: 23 Approved: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 89, message 8 of 8 Federal law 18 U.S.C.A. 3121 regulates phone traces. In section 18 USCA 3121 (b) (1) and (b) (2), the federal code explicitly states an "Exception to general prohibition on trap and trace device use" The law says that if the person whose phone is being traced gives permission for the line to be traced, a court order is not necessary. >From this argument, automatic calling party identification is completely legal. The person who installs such a phone gives permission to the phone company to automatically trace her own lines. Note that this is a federal statute; state laws may be different. For other references, see my article in the May 1988 CACM, Stalking the Wily Hacker. Cliff Stoll Cliff@cfa200.harvard.edu 617/495-7147 Harvard - Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics