Do wiretaps have to be approved in advance?

The law considers wiretapping to be very intrusive. Therefore, federal law closely regulates it. A court will permit wiretapping only for a limited period. The authorities (usually FBI agents) who listen to your telephone calls must make efforts to minimize this intrusion by limiting the number of intercepted calls that do not involve the investigation. An example of this would be tapping a bookie's telephone only during the hours when bets likely will be placed. After the wiretap period has ended, the authorities must inventory the calls and reveal to the court the content of the conversations they intercepted.

Police generally need a warrant in order to search email records.

>>Do the police have the right to tap a telephone?
>>Do wiretaps have to be approved in advance?
>>May the police search you without a warrant?
>>Do the police have the right to stop and frisk you?
>>Can the police seize what they find in a frisk?
>>Does the law permit the police to search a home or items in it?
>>Can the police ever search a home without a warrant?
>>What happens if a search is not valid?

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