2021 Georgia Code
Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses
Chapter 11 - Offenses Against Public Order and Safety
Article 3 - Invasions of Privacy
Part 1 - Wiretapping, Eavesdropping, Surveillance, and Related Offenses
- § 16-11-60. Definitions
- § 16-11-61. Peeping Toms
- § 16-11-62. Eavesdropping, Surveillance, or Intercepting Communication Which Invades Privacy of Another; Divulging Private Message
- § 16-11-63. Possession, Sale, or Distribution of Eavesdropping Devices
- § 16-11-64. Interception of Wire or Oral Transmissions by Law Enforcement Officers
- § 16-11-64.1. Application and Issuance of Order Authorizing Installation and Use of Pen Register or Trap and Trace Device
- § 16-11-64.2. Emergency Situation and Other Grounds Authorizing Installation and Use of Pen Register or Trap and Trace Device Prior to Order; Time for Order Approving Installation or Use
- § 16-11-64.3. Emergency Situation; Application for an Investigation Warrant
- § 16-11-65. License to Intercept Telephonic Communications for Business Service Improvement; Regulatory Powers of Georgia Public Service Commission
- § 16-11-66. Interception of Wire, Oral, or Electronic Communication by Party Thereto; Consent Requirements for Recording and Divulging Conversations to Which Child Under 18 Years Is a Party; Parental Exception
- § 16-11-66.1. Disclosure of Stored Wire or Electronic Communications; Records; Search Warrants; Issuance of Subpoena; Violation
- § 16-11-67. Admissibility of Evidence Obtained in Violation of Part
- § 16-11-68. Admissibility of Privileged Communications
- § 16-11-69. Penalty for Violations of Part
- § 16-11-70. Telephone Records Privacy Protection
- For note, "The Online Zoom Lens: Why Internet Street-Level Mapping Technologies Demand Reconsideration of the Modern-Day Tort Notion of 'Public Privacy'," see 43 Ga. L. Rev. 575 (2009). For comment on Bodrey v. Cape, 120 Ga. App. 859, 172 S.E.2d 643 (1969), see 7 Ga. St. B.J. 256 (1970).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249 generally defines and proscribes invasions of privacy. Bilbo v. State, 142 Ga. App. 716, 236 S.E.2d 847 (1977), rev'd on other grounds, 240 Ga. 601, 242 S.E.2d 21 (1978).
Various sections of Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249 must be construed together in order to determine legislative intent. Birge v. State, 142 Ga. App. 735, 236 S.E.2d 906 (1977), rev'd on other grounds, 240 Ga. 501, 241 S.E.2d 213, cert. denied, 436 U.S. 945, 98 S. Ct. 2847, 56 L. Ed. 2d 786 (1978).
Part not preempted by federal law.
- O.C.G.A. P. 1, Art. 3, Ch. 11, T. 16 provides greater protection to individual privacy rights than the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. ยง 2510 et seq., and, accordingly, was not preempted thereby. Bishop v. State, 241 Ga. App. 517, 526 S.E.2d 917 (1999).
Cause of action for invasion of privacy through wiretapping not dependent on disclosure.- Georgia recognizes a cause of action for invasion of privacy through wiretapping irrespective of whether information obtained is published or disclosed. Awbrey v. Great Atl. & Pac. Tea Co., 505 F. Supp. 604 (N.D. Ga. 1980).
Cited in Satterfield v. State, 127 Ga. App. 528, 194 S.E.2d 295 (1972); Ansley v. Stynchcombe, 480 F.2d 437 (5th Cir. 1973); Cross v. Georgia, 581 F.2d 102 (5th Cir. 1978).
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Applicability to federal agencies.
- O.C.G.A. P. 1, Art. 3, Ch. 11, T. 16, governing use of telephone service observing equipment, is inapplicable to agencies of United States. 1974 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 74-36.
RESEARCH REFERENCES
ALR.
- Validity of statute or ordinance interfering with privacy in restaurants, 5 A.L.R. 965.
Bank's duty to customer or depositor not to disclose information as to his financial condition, 92 A.L.R.2d 900.
Investigations and surveillance, shadowing and trailing, as violation of right of privacy, 13 A.L.R.3d 1025.
Censorship and evidentiary use of unconvicted prisoners' mail, 52 A.L.R.3d 548.
Uninvited entry into another's living quarters as invasion of privacy, 56 A.L.R.3d 434.
Waiver or loss of right of privacy, 57 A.L.R.3d 16.
Taking unauthorized photographs as invasion of privacy, 86 A.L.R.3d 374.
Exchange among insurers of medical information concerning insured or applicant for insurance as invasion of privacy, 98 A.L.R.3d 561.
Permissible warrantless surveillance, under state communications interception statute, by state or local law enforcement officer or one acting in concert with officer, 27 A.L.R.4th 449.
Eavesdropping on extension telephone as invasion of privacy, 49 A.L.R.4th 430.
Intrusion by news-gathering entity as invasion of right of privacy, 69 A.L.R.4th 1059.
Bank's liability, under state law, for disclosing financial information concerning depositor or customer, 81 A.L.R.4th 377.
