Stored Communications Act

Stored Communications Act
Acronyms (colloquial)SCA
Enacted bythe 99th United States Congress
EffectiveOctober 21, 1986
Citations
Public lawPub. L. 99–508
Statutes at Large100 Stat. 1848, 1860
Codification
Titles amended18
U.S.C. sections created§§ 2701–2712
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the House as H.R. 4952 by Robert Kastenmeier (D–WI) on June 5, 1986
  • Committee consideration by Judiciary
  • Passed the House on June 23, 1986 (Voice Vote)
  • Passed the Senate on October 1, 1986 (Voice Vote) with amendment
  • House agreed to Senate amendment on October 2, 1986 (Unanimous Consent)
  • Signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on October 21, 1986
Major amendments

The Stored Communications Act (SCA), codified at 18 U.S.C. Chapter 121 §§ 2701–2713), is a United States law that addresses voluntary and compelled disclosure of "stored wire and electronic communications and transactional records" held by third-party Internet service providers (ISPs). It was enacted as Title II of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA).

The SCA creates Fourth Amendment-like privacy protection for email and other digital communications stored on the Internet. It limits the government's ability to compel an ISP to turn over content information and non-content information (such as logs and "envelope" information from email). It also limits the ability of commercial ISPs to reveal content information to non-government entities.

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