PUBLIC NOTICE

       Federal Communications Commission
       1919 M St., N.W.
       Washington, D.C. 20554
     
                                                                              
                                                       DA 96-2067
                                               December 10 , 1996

       MEMORANDUM OPINION ISSUED BY DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
          CONCLUDES THAT COMMISSION'S RECENTLY ADOPTED
  WIRELESS ENHANCED 911 RULES ARE CONSISTENT WITH WIRETAP ACT
                                
                       CC Docket No. 94-102

The Commission has received a Department of Justice Memorandum Opinion finding that the
wireless enhanced 911 (E911) rules recently adopted by the Commission in CC Docket No. 94-102
do not require persons subject to those rules to engage in any practices that might result in a viola-

tion of the Wiretap Act or other applicable provisions of law.

In a Report and Order adopted June 12, 1996, the Commission prescribed rules requiring certain
wireless carriers to provide the location information of a 911 caller to State or local officials operat
ing the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point.  The location information requirement estab
lished by the Commission takes effect five years after the effective date of the rules, which was
October 1, 1996.  The Commission indicated in the E911 Order that it had requested an opinion
from the Department of Justice regarding whether the provision of location information would be
a violation of the Wiretap Act.   

In a Memorandum Opinion issued on September 10, 1996, the Department of Justice concludes that
the requirements of the Commission's rules relating to wireless E911 features and functions 
do not violate either the Wiretap Act, the Electronic Communications Act, or the Fourth Amend-

ment to the United States Constitution.  With respect to the interpretation of Section 1002(a) of the
Wiretap Act, the Department of Justice concludes that the statutory provision, by its terms, does not
prohibit a wireless carrier's transmission to local public safety organizations of information regard
ing the physical location of a wireless 911 caller.

The Department of Justice also concludes that Section 2703 of the Electronic Communications Act
applies to a carrier's transmission of location information, but the caller, by dialing 911, has im
pliedly consented to such disclosure, thus permitting the Federal Government to require the carrier
to disclose such information without a warrant or Court Order.  Finally, the Department of Justice
concludes that the Fourth Amendment does not prohibit the required transmission of location
information because of the caller's implied consent to the disclosure and because a caller who dials
911 has neither an actual nor a reasonable expectation of privacy with regard to his or her where-

abouts at the time of the call.     

The full text of the Department of Justice Memorandum Opinion has been included in CC Docket
No. 94-102 and is available for review during regular business hours at the FCC Reference Center,
Federal Communications Commission, 1919 M Street, N.W., Room 239, Washington, D.C. 20554. 
Copies may also be obtained from International Transcription Service, Inc. (ITS), 2100 M Street,
N.W., Suite 140, Washington, D.C. 20037 (202)857-3800.
                                
                            - FCC -