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Title II specifically authorizes the government to use "trap and trace" devices and pen
registers--which provide information about telecommunications sent and received from a
given source--against any non-U.S. citizen in the United States or against any person
suspected of involvement with international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.
Title II also authorizes "roving surveillance," permitting the government to intercept
communications without specifying the facility or location. Instead, the government may
avail itself of all the information, facilities, or technical assistance necessary to monitor a
given target while protecting the secrecy of its investigation. Critics have noted that under
the PATRIOT Act, authorities need not identify the target to obtain a wiretap, but can
instead establish "John Doe" roving taps. The authorization of roving surveillance was
designed in part as a response to new technologies such as cellular telephones, e-mail,
and other means of rapid communication.
Although Title II requires warrants for searches and record seizures in terrorism
investigations, it does not require the government to notify those being searched and
indeed requires officials to keep their searches secret. Because these searches are
performed without the knowledge of property owners, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) calls them "sneak and peek" searches. While warrants for access to records require
the authorization of a judge, an order to obtain records may be granted ex parte, and
warrants may not disclose the reason for the search. These sneak and peek warrants have
since been used in drug cases and other ordinary criminal matters.4
Title III attempts to cut off funds to terrorist organizations by strengthening banking rules
against international money laundering. It requires banks and other financial institutions to
file reports with the federal government about transactions in excess of $10,000, and
prohibits financial institutions from notifying customers when they report suspicious
activity to the government. It also expands U.S. jurisdiction over financial crimes committed
outside of the United States.
Title IV enhances the power of the attorney general and federal immigration authorities to
prohibit people affiliated with terrorist organizations from entering the country. Critics note
that the law does not provide for any judicial oversight of the "terrorist" designation of
people or groups. Title IV also requires the attorney general to detain aliens engaged in
activities that endanger national security. After these aliens have been held for six months,
the attorney general must determine whether they still represent a threat. However, so
long as the attorney general reviews and recertifies the threat every six months, aliens may
be held indefinitely.
Title V of the PATRIOT Act contains a highly controversial provision that greatly expands
the authorized uses of National Security Letters (NSLs). An NSL is a form of administrative
subpoena that was created by FISA in 1978. FISA authorized the federal government to
use NSLs to request that an electronic communication service, such as a phone company,
provide information about its subscribers and their activities. NSLs were to be used only
against persons directly suspected of terrorist activity, and companies were not permitted
to tell these persons that the government had accessed their records.
NSLs have always been controversial because unlike other warrants, they do not require
judicial oversight and do not allow subjects to know that they are being monitored.
However, Title V of the PATRIOT Act expands the number of federal agents who may
authorize the use of NSLs. It also permits the use of NSLs against a far broader category of
targets: persons whose information is "relevant to an authorized investigation to protect
against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities."

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