Dispossessed, Beyond Custody, and Out of Control

Where the Stored Communications Act and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Meet Modern Communications Technology

David Kalat explores three barriers that have been erected over the years to limit the collection of certain types of electronic communication: the legal, logistical, and cryptographic. He discusses the origins of the Stored Communications Act; how its application to collecting user communications has been forced to evolve in the era of “bring your own device”; and how the advent of cryptographically secure third-party messaging applications has upended many assumptions about the meaning of “possession, custody, or control.”

Read the full article in the latest volume of Pratt’s Privacy & Cybersecurity Law Report (pp. 35-39).