How does the USA PATRIOT Act law affect my private communication by phone e-mail?
To wiretap your phone or gather information about your e-mail activity, an enforcement agent must simply obtain a court order for a blank warrant and the law enforcement agent fills in places to be searched. The enforcement agent can require the telephone company to reveal the numbers dialed to and from a particular phone, by certifying that the information to be obtained is “relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation.” The government has the authority to delay notification for searches of some forms of electronic communications that are in the custody of a third party. It must show the judge that if the person to be searched is given notice, one of the five things will happen – 1) an individual’s physical safety will be endangered, 2) someone will flee prosecution, 3) evidence will be tampered with, 4) potential witnesses will be intimidated or, 5) an investigation would be jeopardized or a trial unduly delayed.
