Electronic Communications Privacy Act

E10928

United States federal statute privacy law surveillance law

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act is a U.S. federal law that governs the interception, access, and disclosure of electronic communications and associated data by government and private entities.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

AI illustration

All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986	9
Electronic Communications Privacy Act canonical	8
ECPA	3
Wiretap Act	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T108085 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Electronic Communications Privacy Act
Context triple: [USA PATRIOT Act, amends, Electronic Communications Privacy Act]

A. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is a U.S. federal law that governs the procedures for physical and electronic surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence information, particularly for national security and counterintelligence purposes.
B. Espionage Act of 1917
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a U.S. federal law enacted during World War I that criminalizes interference with military operations, support for U.S. enemies, and certain forms of dissent, and has been widely used and debated in national security and free speech cases.
C. USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act is a U.S. federal law enacted after the September 11, 2001 attacks that expanded government surveillance, intelligence-gathering, and anti-money-laundering powers in the name of counterterrorism and national security.
D. Freedom of Information Act
The Freedom of Information Act is a U.S. law that grants the public the right to access records from federal government agencies, promoting transparency and accountability.
E. Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002
The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 is a U.S. federal law that established sweeping reforms to improve corporate governance, financial reporting, and auditor independence in response to major accounting scandals.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Electronic Communications Privacy Act
Target entity description: The Electronic Communications Privacy Act is a U.S. federal law that governs the interception, access, and disclosure of electronic communications and associated data by government and private entities.

A. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is a U.S. federal law that governs the procedures for physical and electronic surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence information, particularly for national security and counterintelligence purposes.
B. Espionage Act of 1917
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a U.S. federal law enacted during World War I that criminalizes interference with military operations, support for U.S. enemies, and certain forms of dissent, and has been widely used and debated in national security and free speech cases.
C. USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act is a U.S. federal law enacted after the September 11, 2001 attacks that expanded government surveillance, intelligence-gathering, and anti-money-laundering powers in the name of counterterrorism and national security.
D. Freedom of Information Act
The Freedom of Information Act is a U.S. law that grants the public the right to access records from federal government agencies, promoting transparency and accountability.
E. Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002
The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 is a U.S. federal law that established sweeping reforms to improve corporate governance, financial reporting, and auditor independence in response to major accounting scandals.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (51)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States federal statute ⓘ privacy law ⓘ surveillance law ⓘ
affectedBy	USA FREEDOM Act ⓘ USA PATRIOT Act ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Title III amendments ⓘ
amends	Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 ⓘ
appliesTo	government entities ⓘ law enforcement agencies ⓘ private parties ⓘ service providers ⓘ
codifiedIn	Title 18 of the United States Code ⓘ
component	Pen Register and Trap and Trace Devices provisions ⓘ Stored Communications Act ⓘ Wiretap Act ⓘ linked to: Electronic Communications Privacy Act
contains	exceptions for consent of a party to the communication ⓘ exceptions for law enforcement in emergency situations ⓘ exceptions for provider operations ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
effectiveDate	1986-10-21 ⓘ
enactedBy	United States Congress ⓘ
governs	access to stored electronic files ⓘ access to stored emails ⓘ real-time interception of communications ⓘ use of pen registers ⓘ use of trap and trace devices ⓘ
hasBeenCriticizedFor	outdated standards for access to stored communications based on age of data ⓘ
hasLongTermDebateOn	adequacy of privacy protections for modern cloud services ⓘ
influencedBy	advances in computer and telecommunications technology ⓘ
jurisdiction	federal ⓘ
provides	civil remedies for unlawful interception or access ⓘ criminal penalties for unlawful interception of communications ⓘ exclusionary rule for illegally obtained communications in some circumstances ⓘ
publicLawNumber	Public Law 99-508 ⓘ
purpose	to extend restrictions on wiretaps to electronic data transmissions ⓘ to protect privacy of electronic communications ⓘ
regulates	access to associated data such as metadata ⓘ access to stored electronic communications ⓘ disclosure of electronic communications ⓘ interception of electronic communications ⓘ
requires	court orders for certain interceptions ⓘ warrants or court orders for access to stored communications under specified conditions ⓘ
shortName	ECPA ⓘ linked to: Electronic Communications Privacy Act
signedBy	Ronald Reagan ⓘ
signingDate	1986-10-21 ⓘ
subjectMatter	cellular telephone communications ⓘ computer network communications ⓘ digital communications metadata ⓘ electronic mail ⓘ
titleOfAct	Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 ⓘ linked to: Electronic Communications Privacy Act
yearEnacted	1986 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited