2002 US Code
Title 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I - CRIMES
CHAPTER 121 - STORED WIRE AND ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSACTIONAL RECORDS ACCESS
Sec. 2702 - Voluntary disclosure of customer communications or records

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§2702. Voluntary disclosure of customer communications or records

(a) Prohibitions.—Except as provided in subsection (b)—

(1) a person or entity providing an electronic communication service to the public shall not knowingly divulge to any person or entity the contents of a communication while in electronic storage by that service; and

(2) a person or entity providing remote computing service to the public shall not knowingly divulge to any person or entity the contents of any communication which is carried or maintained on that service—

(A) on behalf of, and received by means of electronic transmission from (or created by means of computer processing of communications received by means of electronic transmission from), a subscriber or customer of such service;

(B) solely for the purpose of providing storage or computer processing services to such subscriber or customer, if the provider is not authorized to access the contents of any such communications for purposes of providing any services other than storage or computer processing; and

(3) a provider of remote computing service or electronic communication service to the public shall not knowingly divulge a record or other information pertaining to a subscriber to or customer of such service (not including the contents of communications covered by paragraph (1) or (2)) to any governmental entity.

(b) Exceptions for disclosure of communications.—A provider described in subsection (a) may divulge the contents of a communication—

(1) to an addressee or intended recipient of such communication or an agent of such addressee or intended recipient;

(2) as otherwise authorized in section 2517, 2511(2)(a), or 2703 of this title;

(3) with the lawful consent of the originator or an addressee or intended recipient of such communication, or the subscriber in the case of remote computing service;

(4) to a person employed or authorized or whose facilities are used to forward such communication to its destination;

(5) as may be necessarily incident to the rendition of the service or to the protection of the rights or property of the provider of that service;

(6) to a law enforcement agency—

(A) if the contents—

(i) were inadvertently obtained by the service provider; and

(ii) appear to pertain to the commission of a crime; or

(B) if required by section 227 of the Crime Control Act of 1990; or

(7) to a Federal, State, or local governmental entity, if the provider, in good faith, believes that an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure without delay of communications relating to the emergency.

(c) Exceptions for Disclosure of Customer Records.—A provider described in subsection (a) may divulge a record or other information pertaining to a subscriber to or customer of such service (not including the contents of communications covered by subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2))—

(1) as otherwise authorized in section 2703;

(2) with the lawful consent of the customer or subscriber;

(3) as may be necessarily incident to the rendition of the service or to the protection of the rights or property of the provider of that service;

(4) to a governmental entity, if the provider reasonably believes that an emergency involving immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to any person justifies disclosure of the information; or

(5) to any person other than a governmental entity.

(Added Pub. L. 99–508, title II, §201[(a)], Oct. 21, 1986, 100 Stat. 1860; amended Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, §7037, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4399; Pub. L. 105–314, title VI, §604(b), Oct. 30, 1998, 112 Stat. 2984; Pub. L. 107–56, title II, §212(a)(1), Oct. 26, 2001, 115 Stat. 284; Pub. L. 107–296, title II, §225(d)(1), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2157.)

Amendment of Section

For termination of amendment by Pub. L. 107–56, see Termination Date of 2001 Amendment note below.

References in Text

Section 227 of the Crime Control Act of 1990, referred to in subsec. (b)(6)(B), is classified to section 13032 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.

Amendments

2002—Subsec. (b)(6)(A). Pub. L. 107–296, §225(d)(1)(B), inserted “or” at end.

Subsec. (b)(6)(C). Pub. L. 107–296, §225(d)(1)(C), struck out subpar. (C) which read as follows: “if the provider reasonably believes that an emergency involving immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure of the information without delay.”

Subsec. (b)(7). Pub. L. 107–296, §225(d)(1)(A), (D), added par. (7).

2001—Pub. L. 107–56, §§212(a)(1)(A), 224, temporarily substituted “Voluntary disclosure of customer communications or records” for “Disclosure of contents” in section catchline. See Termination Date of 2001 Amendment note below.

Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 107–56, §§212(a)(1)(B), 224, temporarily added par. (3). See Termination Date of 2001 Amendment note below.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 107–56, §§212(a)(1)(C), 224, temporarily substituted “Exceptions for disclosure of communications” for “Exceptions” in heading and “A provider described in subsection (a)” for “A person or entity” in introductory provisions. See Termination Date of 2001 Amendment note below.

Subsec. (b)(6)(C). Pub. L. 107–56, §§212(a)(1)(D), 224, temporarily added subpar. (C). See Termination Date of 2001 Amendment note below.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107–56, §§212(a)(1)(E), 224, temporarily added subsec. (c). See Termination Date of 2001 Amendment note below.

1998—Subsec. (b)(6). Pub. L. 105–314 amended par. (6) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (6) read as follows: “to a law enforcement agency, if such contents—

“(A) were inadvertently obtained by the service provider; and

“(B) appear to pertain to the commission of a crime.”

1988—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 100–690 substituted “2517” for “2516”.

Effective Date of 2002 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 107–296 effective 60 days after Nov. 25, 2002, see section 4 of Pub. L. 107–296, set out as an Effective Date note under section 101 of Title 6, Domestic Security.

Termination Date of 2001 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 107–56 to cease to have effect Dec. 31, 2005, except amendment to continue in effect with respect to any particular foreign intelligence investigation that began before Dec. 31, 2005, or with respect to any particular offense or potential offense that began or occurred before Dec. 31, 2005, see section 224 of Pub. L. 107–56, set out as a note under section 2510 of this title.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in section 2706 of this title; title 6 section 145.