Local usage details (LUD) are a detailed record of
local call In telephony, the term local call has the following meanings:
# Any call using a single switching center; that is, not traveling to another telephone network;
# A call made within a local calling area as defined by the local exchange carrier;
# A ...
s made and received from a particular phone number. These records are regularly available to
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
with a
court order
A court order is an official proclamation by a judge (or panel of judges) that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing, a trial, an appeal or other court proceedings. Such ruling requires or authorizes the carrying out o ...
, and were traditionally subject to the same restrictions as
telephone tapping
Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
.
In the United States, LUDs may be legally used by the police without first obtaining a
warrant, as determined by ''
Smith v. Maryland
''Smith v. Maryland'', 442 U.S. 735 (1979), was a Supreme Court of the United States, Supreme Court case holding that the installation and use of a pen register by the police to obtain information on a suspect's telephone calls was not a "Search a ...
'' (1979).
Other terms for call records include CDR (call detail records) or SMDR (station message detail recordings). These terms normally apply to "raw call records" before they have been processed to apply locations and rates.
See also
*
Pen register
A pen register, or dialed number recorder (DNR), is an electronic device that records all numbers called from a particular telephone line. The term has come to include any device or program that performs similar functions to an original pen regist ...
Law enforcement in the United States
References
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