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78 Fordham L. Rev. 349 (2009-2010)
Protections for Electronic Communications: The Stored Communications Act and the Fourth Amendment

handle is hein.journals/flr78 and id is 351 raw text is: PROTECTIONS FOR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS: THE STORED COMMUNICATIONS ACT AND THE FOURTH AMENDMENT Alexander Scolnik * As e-mail and other forms of electronic communications began becoming widely used, Congress recognized the need to protect these new forms of communication from impermissible intrusion. Unsure whether the flexible approach to determining the extent of Fourth Amendment protections as announced in Katz v. United States would extend to electronic communications, Congress enacted the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) to ensure a baseline level of protection. This Note argues that the Fourth Amendment does extend to electronic communications and, therefore, the provisions of the ECPA that allow the government to access certain electronic communications without a search warrant are unconstitutional. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRO DUCTION .......................................................................................... 350 I. COMMUNICATIONS AND THE FOURTH AMENDMENT ............................ 351 A . The Third-Party D octrine ......................................................... 355 1. Delivery and Routing Information Directly Conveyed to T hird Parties ...................................................................... 356 2. Records and Information Stored in Databases Managed by T hird Parties ................................................................. 357 B. Fourth Amendment Standards Evolve with Technology ....... 361 1. Telephone Conversations ................................................... 362 a. O lm stead v. United States ............................................ 362 b. K atz v. U nited States .................................................... 363 2. Postal M ail ......................................................................... 365 3. Telegraph M essages ........................................................... 368 C. Legislative Actions To Protect Electronic Communications .... 372 1. Motivation for the Electronic Communications Privacy A ct ..................................................................................... 3 7 2 * J.D. Candidate, 2010, Fordham University School of Law; B.E., 2006, Cooper Union. I would like to thank my advisor, Professor Katherine Strandburg, for her insightful comments and feedback and my family and friends for their support and encouragement.

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