FISA (1978)
The other court. FISA orders come from a court most providers will never see, for a purpose the criminal statutes do not cover, and they arrive on the same network as everything else.
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA)
FISA authorized the collection of "foreign intelligence information" regarding "foreign powers" and "agents of foreign powers." The purpose of FISA surveillance can be to protect against espionage, terrorism or other national security threats. FISA surveillance is authorized by a rotating group of federal district judges who collectively make up the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
For a carrier the practical difference is procedural: a FISA order carries its own authority, its own secrecy requirements and, in Subsentio's experience, personnel with the security clearances needed to handle it. The technical capability that delivers it is the same CALEA capability that delivers a Title III intercept.
The parts that matter to a provider.
The FISA court
A panel of federal district judges designated by the Chief Justice, sitting to review applications for electronic surveillance and physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes.
Foreign powers and agents
The statute defines both terms; surveillance is authorized where there is probable cause that the target is a foreign power or an agent of one, and that the facilities are being or are about to be used by them.
Amended repeatedly
The USA PATRIOT Act (2001) and the FISA Amendments Act (2008) both changed it — the first broadening who may be targeted, the second addressing persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States.
Does this apply to you?
Electronic communication service providers served with a FISA order or directive. The carrier's duty to assist, and its right to compensation, are written into the statute.
FISA, full text
Hosted in full by Subsentio. Opens in a new tab.
Other primary documents.
CALEA Act of 1994
What CALEA (1994) requires, section by section — definitions, capability, security, safe harbor, enforcement — with the full text to download.
CALEA Broadband Coverage Order (2005)
The 2005 FCC order that extended CALEA to facilities-based broadband and interconnected VoIP providers — what it decided, why, and what it left open.
CALEA Capability Order (2006)
The 2006 FCC order that set the May 14, 2007 deadline, permitted Trusted Third Parties, required SSI filings and monitoring reports, and settled who pays.
ECPA (1986)
What ECPA did: extended the Wiretap Act to electronic communications and created the Pen Register Act and the Stored Communications Act — the tiers of process.
The Wiretap Act (1968)
The 1968 statute behind every Title III order: a general prohibition on intercepting communications, with a court-supervised exception on probable cause.
USA PATRIOT Act (2001)
What the USA PATRIOT Act changed for communications providers: FISA, the pen-register statute, the Stored Communications Act and emergency disclosure.