1. Except for emergency situations pursuant to section 808B.12, a person shall not install or use a pen register or a trap and trace device without first obtaining a search warrant or court order pursuant to section 808B.11. However, a pen register or a trap and trace device may be used or installed without court order if any of the following apply:

 a. It relates to the operation, maintenance, and testing of a wire or electronic communication service or to the protection of the rights or property of the provider of the service, or to the protection of users of the service from abuse of the service or unlawful use of the service.
 b. If a wire or electronic communication was initiated or completed in order to protect the provider of the wire or electronic communication service, another provider furnishing service toward the completion of the wire or electronic communication, or a user of the service, from fraudulent, unlawful, or abusive use of the service.
 c. If consent was obtained from the user of the electronic or wire communication service.

Attorney's Note

Under the Iowa Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Serious misdemeanorup to 1 yearbetween $430 and $2,560
For details, see Iowa Code§ 903.1

Terms Used In Iowa Code 808B.10

  • Court: means a district court in this state. See Iowa Code 808B.1
  • Electronic communication: means any transfer of signals, signs, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photooptical system that affects intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce, but excludes the following:
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Pen register: means a device or process which records or decodes dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information, but not the contents of the communication, transmitted by an instrument or facility from which a wire or electronic communication is transmitted. See Iowa Code 808B.1
  • person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Trap and trace device: means a device or process which captures the incoming electronic or other impulses which identify the originating number or other dialing, routing, addressing, and signaling information reasonably likely to identify the source of a wire or electronic communication, but does not capture the contents of any communication. See Iowa Code 808B.1
  • Wire communication: means any aural transfer made in whole or in part through the use of facilities for the transmission of communications by the aid of wire, cable, or other like connection between the point of origin and the point of reception, including the use of such connection in a switching station, furnished or operated by any person engaged in providing or operating such facilities for the transmission of interstate or foreign communications or communications affecting interstate or foreign commerce. See Iowa Code 808B.1
 2. A person who knowingly violates this section commits a serious misdemeanor.