Title 50 — War and National DefenseRelease 119-73
§1806 Use of information
Title 50 › Chapter CHAPTER 36— - FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE › § 1806
Summary
Federal officers can use or share information from electronic surveillance of a United States person only under the rules that limit what can be kept or shown and only for lawful reasons. Messages that are legally protected (for example, certain private communications) stay protected. If the information is given to law enforcement, it must come with a statement that it can only be used in a criminal case with advance approval from the Attorney General. Before the federal government plans to use such surveillance information against a person in any federal proceeding, it must tell that person and the court. A state or local government must tell the person, the court, and the Attorney General before using the same kind of information in state proceedings. A person who is harmed by such surveillance can ask a court to block (suppress) evidence if the information was taken unlawfully or without proper authorization. If the Attorney General swears that revealing material would hurt national security, a federal judge will review the surveillance papers in private to decide if the surveillance was lawful. The judge may share limited parts with the person under strict protections if needed. If the judge finds the surveillance was unlawful, the court must block the evidence. If it was lawful, the court will refuse the suppression request except where fairness requires some disclosure. If private communications are accidentally collected and both sender and receiver were inside the United States, those contents must be destroyed once noticed unless the Attorney General finds a serious threat. If emergency surveillance was used without later approval, the judge must notify affected U.S. persons about the application, the time of the surveillance, and whether information was obtained. Federal intelligence officers doing foreign intelligence surveillance may coordinate with federal or state law enforcement to investigate or prevent serious foreign threats, but that coordination does not replace any required certifications or court orders.
Full Legal Text
Title 50, §1806
War and National Defense — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Information acquired from an electronic surveillance conducted pursuant to this subchapter concerning any United States person may be used and disclosed by Federal officers and employees without the consent of the United States person only in accordance with the minimization procedures required by this subchapter. No otherwise privileged communication obtained in accordance with, or in violation of, the provisions of this subchapter shall lose its privileged character. No information acquired from an electronic surveillance pursuant to this subchapter may be used or disclosed by Federal officers or employees except for lawful purposes.
(b)No information acquired pursuant to this subchapter shall be disclosed for law enforcement purposes unless such disclosure is accompanied by a statement that such information, or any information derived therefrom, may only be used in a criminal proceeding with the advance authorization of the Attorney General.
(c)Whenever the Government intends to enter into evidence or otherwise use or disclose in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or before any court, department, officer, agency, regulatory body, or other authority of the United States, against an aggrieved person, any information obtained or derived from an electronic surveillance of that aggrieved person pursuant to the authority of this subchapter, the Government shall, prior to the trial, hearing, or other proceeding or at a reasonable time prior to an effort to so disclose or so use that information or submit it in evidence, notify the aggrieved person and the court or other authority in which the information is to be disclosed or used that the Government intends to so disclose or so use such information.
(d)Whenever any State or political subdivision thereof intends to enter into evidence or otherwise use or disclose in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or before any court, department, officer, agency, regulatory body, or other authority of a State or a political subdivision thereof, against an aggrieved person any information obtained or derived from an electronic surveillance of that aggrieved person pursuant to the authority of this subchapter, the State or political subdivision thereof shall notify the aggrieved person, the court or other authority in which the information is to be disclosed or used, and the Attorney General that the State or political subdivision thereof intends to so disclose or so use such information.
(e)Any person against whom evidence obtained or derived from an electronic surveillance to which he is an aggrieved person is to be, or has been, introduced or otherwise used or disclosed in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or before any court, department, officer, agency, regulatory body, or other authority of the United States, a State, or a political subdivision thereof, may move to suppress the evidence obtained or derived from such electronic surveillance on the grounds that—
(1)the information was unlawfully acquired; or
(2)the surveillance was not made in conformity with an order of authorization or approval.
(f)Whenever a court or other authority is notified pursuant to subsection (c) or (d), or whenever a motion is made pursuant to subsection (e), or whenever any motion or request is made by an aggrieved person pursuant to any other statute or rule of the United States or any State before any court or other authority of the United States or any State to discover or obtain applications or orders or other materials relating to electronic surveillance or to discover, obtain, or suppress evidence or information obtained or derived from electronic surveillance under this chapter, the United States district court or, where the motion is made before another authority, the United States district court in the same district as the authority, shall, notwithstanding any other law, if the Attorney General files an affidavit under oath that disclosure or an adversary hearing would harm the national security of the United States, review in camera and ex parte the application, order, and such other materials relating to the surveillance as may be necessary to determine whether the surveillance of the aggrieved person was lawfully authorized and conducted. In making this determination, the court may disclose to the aggrieved person, under appropriate security procedures and protective orders, portions of the application, order, or other materials relating to the surveillance only where such disclosure is necessary to make an accurate determination of the legality of the surveillance.
(g)If the United States district court pursuant to subsection (f) determines that the surveillance was not lawfully authorized or conducted, it shall, in accordance with the requirements of law, suppress the evidence which was unlawfully obtained or derived from electronic surveillance of the aggrieved person or otherwise grant the motion of the aggrieved person. If the court determines that the surveillance was lawfully authorized and conducted, it shall deny the motion of the aggrieved person except to the extent that due process requires discovery or disclosure.
(h)Orders granting motions or requests under subsection (g), decisions under this section that electronic surveillance was not lawfully authorized or conducted, and orders of the United States district court requiring review or granting disclosure of applications, orders, or other materials relating to a surveillance shall be final orders and binding upon all courts of the United States and the several States except a United States court of appeals and the Supreme Court.
(i)In circumstances involving the unintentional acquisition by an electronic, mechanical, or other surveillance device of the contents of any communication, under circumstances in which a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and a warrant would be required for law enforcement purposes, and if both the sender and all intended recipients are located within the United States, such contents shall be destroyed upon recognition, unless the Attorney General determines that the contents indicate a threat of death or serious bodily harm to any person.
(j)If an emergency employment of electronic surveillance is authorized under subsection (e) or (f) of section 1805 of this title and a subsequent order approving the surveillance is not obtained, the judge shall cause to be served on any United States person named in the application and on such other United States persons subject to electronic surveillance as the judge may determine in his discretion it is in the interest of justice to serve, notice of—
(1)the fact of the application;
(2)the period of the surveillance; and
(3)the fact that during the period information was or was not obtained.
(k)(1)Federal officers who conduct electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information under this subchapter may consult with Federal law enforcement officers or law enforcement personnel of a State or political subdivision of a State (including the chief executive officer of that State or political subdivision who has the authority to appoint or direct the chief law enforcement officer of that State or political subdivision) to coordinate efforts to investigate or protect against—
(A)actual or potential attack or other grave hostile acts of a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power;
(B)sabotage, international terrorism, or the international proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power; or
(C)clandestine intelligence activities by an intelligence service or network of a foreign power or by an agent of a foreign power.
(2)Coordination authorized under paragraph (1) shall not preclude the certification required by section 1804(a)(7)(B) 11 See References in Text note below. of this title or the entry of an order under section 1805 of this title.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
This chapter, referred to in subsec. (f), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 95–511, Oct. 25, 1978, 92 Stat. 1783, known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see
Short Title
note set out under section 1801 of this title and Tables. section 1804(a)(7)(B) of this title, referred to in subsec. (k)(2), was redesignated section 1804(a)(6)(B) of this title by Pub. L. 110–261, title I, § 104(1)(B), July 10, 2008, 122 Stat. 2461.
Amendments
2023—Subsec. (k)(1). Pub. L. 117–347, § 323(a)(1)(A), repealed Pub. L. 107–296, § 898. See 2002 Amendment note below. 2015—Subsec. (j). Pub. L. 114–23 substituted “subsection (e) or (f) of section 1805 of this title” for “section 1805(e) of this title”. 2008—Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 110–261, § 106, substituted “communication” for “radio communication”. Subsec. (k)(1)(B). Pub. L. 110–261, § 110(b)(1), substituted “sabotage, international terrorism, or the international proliferation of weapons of mass destruction” for “sabotage or international terrorism”. 2002—Subsec. (k)(1). Pub. L. 107–296, § 898, which inserted, in introductory provisions, “or law
Enforcement
personnel of a State or political subdivision of a State (including the chief executive officer of that State or political subdivision who has the authority to appoint or direct the chief law
Enforcement
officer of that State or political subdivision)” after “law
Enforcement
officers”, was repealed by Pub. L. 117–347, § 323(a)(1)(A). Repeal to have no effect on amendment by Pub. L. 107–296, see
Construction
of 2023 Amendment note set out under section 2517 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure. 2001—Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 107–56 added subsec. (k).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2008 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 110–261 effective July 10, 2008, except as provided in section 404 of Pub. L. 110–261, set out as a Transition Procedures note under section 1801 of this title, see section 402 of Pub. L. 110–261, set out as an
Effective Date
of 2008 Amendment note under section 1801 of this title.
Effective Date
of 2002 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 107–296 effective 60 days after Nov. 25, 2002, see section 4 of Pub. L. 107–296, set out as an
Effective Date
note under section 101 of Title 6, Domestic Security. Report on Mechanisms for Determinations of Disclosure of Information for Law
Enforcement
Purposes Pub. L. 106–567, title VI, § 604(b), Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 2853, provided that: “(1) The Attorney General shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the authorities and procedures utilized by the Department of Justice for determining whether or not to disclose information acquired under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) for law
Enforcement
purposes. “(2) In this subsection, the term ‘appropriate committees of Congress’ means the following:“(A) The Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate. “(B) The Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
50 U.S.C. § 1806
Title 50 — War and National Defense
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73