Pen trap

A Pen trap is a subpoena that lets US law enforcement identify the others with whom a tracked individual is communicating. To obtain this information, court orders are typically served to telephone companies, ISPs and email providers. Court authorization for a pen trap is much easier to obtain than a wiretap order.

Prior to the Patriot Act, a pen trap was only issued to obtain phone log information. Thereafter, subpoenaed communication was expanded to include email and internet communication metadata.

Information Collected

Information that is legally collectible according to 2014 pen trap laws includes:

Phone

• Dialed numbers
• Received call numbers
• The time the call was made
• Whether the call was answered, or went to voice-mail
• The length of each call
• Content of SMS text messages
• Post-cut-through dialed digits--(digits you dial after your call is connected, like your banking personal identification number (PIN), your prescription refill numbers, or your vote for American Idol)
• The real-time location of your cell phone to within a few meters

Email

• All email header information other than the subject line
• The email addresses of the people to whom you send email
• The email addresses of people that send to you
• The time each email is sent or received
• The size of each email that is sent or received

Internet

• IP address, port, and protocol used
• The IP address of other computers on the Internet that you exchange information with
• Time-stamp and size information of internet access
• Protocol traffic analysis to obtain URL web addresses surfed on the web, emails posted or read, instant messages exchanged, and information posted onto message boards

See also

• Covert listening device
• Echelon (signals intelligence)
• Mass surveillance
• Phone hacking
• Secure telephone
• Telephone tapping in the Eastern Bloc
• Pen register

External links

• "Pen Registers" and "Trap and Trace Devices", Electronic Freedom Foundation
• A guide to whether phone conversations can be taped in the United States
• RFC 2804
• How Stuff Works: A guide on wire-tapping, how it works and links to other resources
• List of U.S. States with two party or one party consent laws
• Privacy Laws by State
• Phonetapping in Domestic Circumstances A Guide On Phonetapping [Phonetapping.org] April 26, 2011
• In Pellicano Case, Lessons in Wiretapping Skills NYTimes May 5, 2008
• Lawyers for Guantanamo Inmates Accuse US of Eavesdropping NYTimes May 7, 2008
• Telephone Tapping in India : Legal Provisions