[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 28, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 28CFR59.3]

[Page 142-143]
 
                    TITLE 28--JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION
 
              CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (Continued)
 
PART 59--GUIDELINES ON METHODS OF OBTAINING DOCUMENTARY MATERIALS HELD BY THIRD PARTIES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 59.3  Applicability.

    (a) The guidelines set forth in this part apply, pursuant to section 
201 of the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 (Sec. 201, Pub. L. 96-440, 94 
Stat. 1879, (42 U.S.C. 2000aa-11)), to the procedures used by any 
federal officer or employee, in connection with the investigation or 
prosecution of a criminal offense, to obtain documentary materials in 
the private possession of a disinterested third party.
    (b) The guidelines set forth in this part do not apply to:
    (1) Audits, examinations, or regulatory, compliance, or 
administrative inspections or searches pursuant to federal statute or 
the terms of a federal contract;
    (2) The conduct of foreign intelligence or counterintelligence 
activities by a government authority pursuant to otherwise applicable 
law;

[[Page 143]]

    (3) The conduct, pursuant to otherwise applicable law, of searches 
and seizures at the borders of, or at international points of entry 
into, the United States in order to enforce the customs laws of the 
United States;
    (4) Governmental access to documentary materials for which valid 
consent has been obtained; or
    (5) Methods of obtaining documentary materials whose location is 
known but which have been abandoned or which cannot be obtained through 
subpoena or request because they are in the possession of a person whose 
identity is unknown and cannot with reasonable effort be ascertained.
    (c) The use of search and seizure to obtain documentary materials 
which are believed to be possessed for the purpose of disseminating to 
the public a book, newspaper, broadcast, or other form of public 
communication is subject to title I of the Privacy Protection Act of 
1980 (Sec. 101, et seq., Pub. L. 96-440, 94 Stat. 1879 (42 U.S.C. 
2000aa, et seq.)), which strictly prohibits the use of search and 
seizure to obtain such materials except under specified circumstances.
    (d) These guidelines are not intended to supersede any other 
statutory, regulatory, or policy limitations on access to, or the use or 
disclosure of particular types of documentary materials, including, but 
not limited to, the provisions of the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 
1978 (12 U.S.C. 3401, et seq.), the Drug Abuse Office and Treatment Act 
of 1972, as amended (21 U.S.C. 1101, et seq.), and the Comprehensive 
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation 
Act of 1970, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4541, et seq.).