United States. Surveillance / law enforcement access. Act
Wiretap ActElectronic Communications Privacy Act, Title I – Wiretap Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 2510–2523)
In force
Partly verified
Medium confidence.Not re-verified against a primary source in this session (search budget exhausted); details from established knowledge.
§1Summary
- Synopsis
Prohibits intentional interception of wire, oral and electronic communications in transit unless an exception applies, such as one-party consent or provider exceptions. Sets the procedure for court-ordered interception by law enforcement.
- Key themes
- Unique features
Federal standard is one-party consent, but many states require all-party consent; used heavily in class actions over session-replay and tracking pixels.
- SaaS relevance
Analytics, chat and session-replay SaaS face wiretap claims where they capture website communications without adequate consent.
§2Obligations
- Extraterritorial
- No
- Breach notification
- None
- DPO
- No
- Cross-border transfers
- None
- Maximum penalty
- Civil: greater of $100/day or $10,000 per plaintiff plus punitive damages; criminal up to 5 years
§3Dates
- Key dates
- Adopted
- In force
- Original Title III enacted 1968; expanded to electronic communications by ECPA 1986.
§4Text and authority
- Text
- Authoritative text uscode.house.gov
- Authority
- US Department of Justice; private litigants
§5Where it applies
- Domestic law of
- United States
- Also applies in
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Guam
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Puerto Rico
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- US Virgin Islands
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
§6Sources and verification
- Sources consulted
- Verification
Medium confidence.
Partly verified
Medium confidence.Not re-verified against a primary source in this session (search budget exhausted); details from established knowledge.