Are text messages protected under the Stored Communications Act?

What the Law Says

The Stored Communications Act (SCA), part of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, protects certain electronic communications held in storage by third-party service providers — including text messages — from unauthorized access.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 2701, it is illegal for anyone to intentionally access without authorization a facility through which an electronic communication service is provided — and thereby obtain, alter, or prevent authorized access to a wire or electronic communication while it is in electronic storage.

The law distinguishes between 'electronic storage' (e.g., messages stored on a provider’s server awaiting delivery or kept for backup) and messages in transit. Text messages that have been delivered but remain stored by the provider (e.g., undownloaded SMS backups or cloud-synced messages) typically qualify as 'in electronic storage' and thus fall under SCA protection.

The statute applies to both criminal and civil liability, with violations punishable by fines and imprisonment.

Statutory Text

Whoever (1) intentionally accesses without authorization a facility through which an electronic communication service is provided; or (2) intentionally exceeds an authorization to access that facility; and thereby obtains, alters, or prevents authorized access to a wire or electronic communication while it is in electronic storage in such system shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).

— 18 U.S.C. § 2701(a) — Unlawful access to stored communications

Statutory Text

The punishment for a violation of subsection (a) is (1) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, in the case of a first offense; and (2) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both, in the case of a subsequent offense.

— 18 U.S.C. § 2701(b) — Penalties

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