Fourth Amendment & Privacy Laws Flashcards
7 cards from real CST practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Fourth Amendment & Privacy Laws flashcards as text
Under the one-party consent rule for recording conversations, surveillance may be conducted legally when:
Answer: At least one party to the conversation consents
Federal law and many states allow recording of a conversation when at least one party to that conversation has given consent.
A CST is asked to install a covert audio recorder in a corporate conference room in California. Why does California law make this especially problematic?
Answer: California is an all-party (two-party) consent state for audio recording
California Penal Code §632 requires all parties to a confidential communication to consent before it may be recorded.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorizes electronic surveillance targeting:
Answer: Foreign powers and their agents for intelligence purposes
FISA establishes a separate legal framework for intelligence surveillance of foreign powers and their agents inside the United States.
When law enforcement uses a sting ray (cell-site simulator) to locate a suspect's phone, which legal framework most directly applies?
Answer: The Pen Register Act because it captures dialing/routing information
Stingrays capture signaling/routing information rather than call content, placing them under the Pen Register Act's framework, though some courts now require warrants.
In Carpenter v. United States (2018), the Supreme Court ruled that accessing historical cell-site location information (CSLI) requires:
Answer: A warrant supported by probable cause
Carpenter held that the third-party doctrine does not apply to historical CSLI because it reveals a detailed chronicle of a person's movements and requires a warrant.
An employer wants to monitor employee emails on a company-issued device using the company email server. Under the SCA, this is generally:
Answer: Permissible because the employer is the service provider
The SCA's provider exception allows a company operating its own email service to access communications stored on its systems without violating the Act.
Which of the following best describes 'minimization' as required under Title III wiretap orders?
Answer: Limiting interception of communications unrelated to the criminal investigation
Minimization requires agents to limit the interception of innocent or unrelated communications to the extent practicable during a wiretap operation.