# What Is a 2703(d) Order? Definition and Scope | Kodex Source: https://www.kodexglobal.com/glossary/2703d-order > A 2703(d) order compels transactional records under a specific and articulable facts standard. Learn what it reaches and how it differs from a warrant. Legal Process ## 2703(d) Order A 2703(d) order is a court order compelling a provider to disclose transactional records about an account. It requires specific and articulable facts showing the records are relevant to an investigation, which sits above a subpoena’s relevance standard but below a warrant’s probable cause. Also known as d order, court order for records, 18 U.S.C. 2703(d) The 2703(d) order occupies the middle rung of the Stored Communications Act ladder. It exists because Congress recognised that not all non-content data is equally sensitive: the fact that an account exists is different from a detailed log of everywhere it connected from. ### What a 2703(d) order reaches It compels records concerning an electronic communication service or remote computing service. That is the transactional layer sitting between basic subscriber data and content: - Connection logs and session records - Addressing and routing information, such as who a user communicated with and when - Length and type of service used - Device and network identifiers associated with an account What it does not reach is the content of communications. That boundary is the point of the tiered structure. ### Where it sits between a subpoena and a warrant 2703(d) orderSubpoena Legal standard Specific and articulable facts Relevance to an investigation Who issues it A judge or magistrate Prosecutor, grand jury, or agency Prior judicial review Yes Not generally Reaches transactional records Yes Limited to basic subscriber information Reaches content No No Understanding the ladder matters at intake because requesters do not always ask for what their instrument can compel. A subpoena that demands detailed connection logs is asking for records that generally require a 2703(d) order, and a company producing them anyway has disclosed more than the law required of it. ### What it means for a company receiving one - Check the instrument against the ask. The most common problem is scope creep, where the attached request asks for content the order cannot compel. - Note the date range. Transactional records accumulate quickly, and an unbounded range is worth pushing back on. - Check for a separate non-disclosure order. A 2703(d) order can be accompanied by a § 2705(b) order restricting notice, but it does not restrict notice on its own. ### Why it is contested The tiering was designed in 1986, and technology moved. Location data was the sharpest example: cell site location information was long obtained under 2703(d), until the Supreme Court held in Carpenter v. United States (2018) that acquiring historical cell site records is a search requiring a warrant. That decision did not dismantle the 2703(d) framework, but it established that some categories of record are sensitive enough to demand probable cause regardless of which tier they nominally occupy. Similar arguments continue over other categories of transactional data. FAQ ### Frequently asked questions What does specific and articulable facts mean in practice? It requires the government to point to concrete facts supporting a reasonable belief that the records are relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation. It is more than a hunch and more than mere relevance, but it does not require showing that a crime probably occurred, which is what probable cause demands. Can a 2703(d) order compel message content? No. Content requires a search warrant. A 2703(d) order reaches records concerning an account (logs, connection records, addressing information, service use) but not what was written or stored inside it. Who issues a 2703(d) order? A court. Unlike a subpoena, which a prosecutor or agency can issue directly, a 2703(d) order requires a judge or magistrate to review the government’s factual showing and decide that the standard is met. Glossary ### Related terms #### Subpoena A subpoena is a legal order compelling a person or company to produce documents or testimony. In data request work it is the lowest-threshold instrument: it does not require a judge’s prior approval and generally reaches basic subscriber information rather than the contents of communications. #### Search Warrant A search warrant is an order issued by a judge authorising a search or seizure, granted only on a showing of probable cause. In data request work it is the instrument required to compel the contents of communications, and it is the highest legal threshold a company is likely to encounter. #### Stored Communications Act (SCA) The Stored Communications Act governs when US providers may disclose stored communications and account records to the government and to private parties. It sorts data into tiers and assigns a different legal instrument to each, and it is the statute that decides what a subpoena, an order, or a warrant can reach. #### Court Order A court order is any directive issued by a judge that compels a party to act. In data request work the term usually refers to an order compelling disclosure of records, but it also covers non-disclosure orders and preservation directives, so the label alone does not tell you what an order requires. Classifying process correctly is the whole intake decision. See how Kodex structures it. Learn more