---
kind: "section"
citation: "50 U.S.C. § 3040a"
title: "50"
title_heading: "War and National Defense"
number: "3040a"
heading: "Prohibition on collection and maintenance of information of United States persons based on first amendment-protected activities"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/50/3040a"
units:
  - "Chapter 44 — National Security"
  - "Subchapter I — Coordination for National Security"
---

# §3040a. Prohibition on collection and maintenance of information of United States persons based on first amendment-protected activities


No element of the [intelligence community](/usc/50/3003.md?p=4) may collect or maintain information concerning a United States person (as defined in [section 3039 of this title](/usc/50/3039.md)) solely for the purpose of monitoring an activity protected by the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States.


## Source credit

(July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title I, § 105C, as added Pub. L. 117–103, div. X, title III, § 303, Mar. 15, 2022, 136 Stat. 965.)