18 USC 3123: Pen registers; pen register orders

            
 
          Sec. 3123. Issuance of an order for a pen register or a trap and 
        trace device
        
    (a) In General.--
        (1) Attorney for the government.--Upon an application made under 
    section 3122(a)(1), the court shall enter an ex parte order 
    authorizing the installation and use of a pen register or trap and 
    trace device anywhere within the United States, if the court finds 
    that the attorney for the Government has certified to the court that 
    the information likely to be obtained by such installation and use 
    is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation. The order, upon 
    service of that order, shall apply to any person or entity providing 
    wire or electronic communication service in the United States whose 
    assistance may facilitate the execution of the order. Whenever such 
    an order is served on any person or entity not specifically named in 
    the order, upon request of such person or entity, the attorney for 
    the Government or law enforcement or investigative officer that is 
    serving the order shall provide written or electronic certification 
    that the order applies to the person or entity being served.
        (2) State investigative or law enforcement officer.--Upon an 
    application made under section 3122(a)(2), the court shall enter an 
    ex parte order authorizing the installation and use of a pen 
    register or trap and trace device within the jurisdiction of the 
    court, if the court finds that 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.
        (3)(A) Where the law enforcement agency implementing an ex parte 
    order under this subsection seeks to do so by installing and using 
    its own pen register or trap and trace device on a packet-switched 
    data network of a provider of electronic communication service to 
    the public, the agency shall ensure that a record will be maintained 
    which will identify--
            (i) any officer or officers who installed the device and any 
        officer or officers who accessed the device to obtain 
        information from the network;
            (ii) the date and time the device was installed, the date 
        and time the device was uninstalled, and the date, time, and 
        duration of each time the device is accessed to obtain 
        information;
            (iii) the configuration of the device at the time of its 
        installation and any subsequent modification thereof; and
            (iv) any information which has been collected by the device.

    To the extent that the pen register or trap and trace device can be 
    set automatically to record this information electronically, the
    record shall be maintained electronically throughout the 
    installation and use of such device.
        (B) The record maintained under subparagraph (A) shall be 
    provided ex parte and under seal to the court which entered the ex 
    parte order authorizing the installation and use of the device 
    within 30 days after termination of the order (including any 
    extensions thereof).
    (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 or other facility 
        to which the pen register or trap and trace device is to be 
        attached or applied;
            (B) the identity, if known, of the person who is the subject 
        of the criminal investigation;
            (C) the attributes of the communications to which the order 
        applies, including the number or other identifier and, if known, 
        the location of the telephone line or other facility to which 
        the pen register or trap and trace device is to be attached or 
        applied, and, in the case of an order authorizing installation 
        and use of a trap and trace device under subsection (a)(2), the 
        geographic limits of the 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 or other facility to 
    which the pen register or a trap and trace device is attached or 
    applied, or who is obligated by the order 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.

(Added Pub. L. 99-508, title III, Sec. 301(a), Oct. 21, 1986, 100 Stat. 
1869; amended Pub. L. 107-56, title II, Sec. 216(b), Oct. 26, 2001, 115 
Stat. 288.)
                               Amendments

    2001--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107-56, Sec. 216(b)(1), reenacted heading 
without change and amended text generally. Prior to amendment, text read 
as follows: ``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.''
    Subsec. (b)(1)(A). Pub. L. 107-56, Sec. 216(b)(2)(A), inserted ``or 
other facility'' after ``telephone line'' and ``or applied'' before 
semicolon at end.
    Subsec. (b)(1)(C). Pub. L. 107-56, Sec. 216(b)(2)(B), added subpar. 
(C) and struck out former subpar (C) which read as follows: ``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''.
    Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 107-56, Sec. 216(b)(3), inserted ``or other 
facility'' after ``leasing the line'' and substituted ``or applied, or 
who is obligated by the order'' for ``, or who has been ordered by the 
court''.