Published on: Monday, August 4, 2025
The Stored Communications Act allows the government to subpoena social-media companies for user data, and it even allows those subpoenas to be kept secret from the user—but only if a court determines that certain statutory conditions justifying secrecy are met. The government: So when we subpoena X in this investigation, can we just be the ones to decide which subpoenas are secret instead of the court? District court: Yes. D.C. Circuit: No.
The case is In re Sealed Case, No. 24-5089 (D.C. Cir. 2025).