But according to the District Court, “an individual’s personal
computing device is not a ‘facility through which an
electronic communications service is provided.’”88 We agree,
and we find persuasive the analysis of the Fifth Circuit in
Garcia v. City of Laredo, which held that “a home computer
of an end user is not protected by the [Act].”89
As noted by the Garcia court, though the Act does not
define the term “facility,” the Act does define the term
“electronic communication service,” which it defines as “any
service which provides to users thereof the ability to send or
receive wire or electronic communications.”90 This most
naturally describes network service providers, and, indeed,
“[c]ourts have interpreted the statute to apply to providers of
a communication service such as telephone companies,
[i]nternet or e-mail service providers, and bulletin board
services.”91 The Act also defines “electronic storage” as “(A)
88
In re: Google, 988 F. Supp. 2d at 446.
89
702 F.3d at 793 (quoting Kerr, A User’s Guide to the
Stored Communications Act, 72 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. at 1215).
90
18 U.S.C. § 2510(15) (incorporated by reference in 18
U.S.C. § 2711(1)); see also Garcia, 702 F.3d at 792.
91
Garcia, 702 F.3d at 792 (citing Councilman, 418 F.3d at
81-82; Theofel v. Farey-Jones, 359 F.3d 1066, 1075 (9th Cir.
2004); Steve Jackson Games, Inc. v. U.S. Secret Serv., 36
F.3d 457, 462-63 (5th Cir. 1994)); see also In re iPhone, 844
F. Supp. 2d. at 1057 (“[T]he computer systems of an email
provider, a bulletin board system, or an [internet service
provider] are uncontroversial examples of facilities that
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