12 U.S.C. § 3402
Section 3402 · Access to financial records by Government authorities prohibited; exceptions
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 76 court decisions — leading case Carpenter v. United States (2018)
Most recently applied in United States v. Robert Whipple, III (February 2024)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Except as provided by section 3403(c) or (d), 3413, or 3414 of this title, no Government authority may have access to or obtain copies of, or the information contained in the financial records of any customer from a financial institution unless the financial records are reasonably described and—
(1) such customer has authorized such disclosure in accordance with section 3404 of this title;
(2) such financial records are disclosed in response to an administrative subpena or summons which meets the requirements of section 3405 of this title;
(3) such financial records are disclosed in response to a search warrant which meets the requirements of section 3406 of this title;
(4) such financial records are disclosed in response to a judicial subpena which meets the requirements of section 3407 of this title; or
(5) such financial records are disclosed in response to a formal written request which meets the requirements of section 3408 of this title.