The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, Pub. L. No. 99-508, 100 Stat. 1848 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 18 U.S.C.) contains two important prohibitions on non-governmental parties: the prohibition found in 18 U.S.C. § 2511 on intercepting, in some circumstances, a "wire, oral, or electronic communication," and the prohibition found in 18 U.S.C. § 2701 on unlawfully accessing, in some circumstances, "a wire or electronic communication while it is in electronic storage."
Like most federal statutes, the definitions and exceptions are very important for understanding the section. (For instance, is it a federal crime to pick up another telephone extension in your house and listen in on your siblings' telephone conversations? No, because 18 U.S.C. § 2501(5)(a) exempts "any telephone or telegraph instrument" from the list of devices that can be used to "intercept.") So read them carefully!
Here are the parts of the statute that deal with non-governmental actors:
18 U.S.C. § 2510: (Complete section)
Edited version:
(1) "wire communication" means any aural transfer made in whole or
in part through the use of facilities for the transmission of
communications by the aid of wire, cable, or other like connection
between the point of origin and the point of reception (including the
use of such connection in a switching station) furnished or operated
by any person engaged in providing or operating such facilities for
the transmission of interstate or foreign communications or
communications affecting interstate or foreign commerce;
(2) "oral communication" means any oral communication uttered by a
person exhibiting an expectation that such communication is not
subject to interception under circumstances justifying such
expectation, but such term does not include any electronic
communication;
(3) "State" means any State of the United States, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or
possession of the United States;
(4) "intercept" means the aural or other acquisition of the
contents of any wire, electronic, or oral communication through the
use of any electronic, mechanical, or other device.
(5) "electronic, mechanical, or other device" means any device or
apparatus which can be used to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic
communication other than--
(a) any telephone or telegraph instrument, equipment or
facility, or any component thereof, (i) furnished to the subscriber or
user by a provider of wire or electronic communication service in the
ordinary course of its business and being used by the subscriber or
user in the ordinary course of its business or furnished by such
subscriber or user for connection to the facilities of such service
and used in the ordinary course of its business; or (ii) being used by
a provider of wire or electronic communication service in the ordinary
course of its business, or by an investigative or law enforcement
officer in the ordinary course of his duties;
(b) a hearing aid or similar device being used to correct
subnormal hearing to not better than normal;
(6) "person" means any employee, or agent of the United States or
any State or political subdivision thereof, and any individual,
partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, or corporation;
[...]
(8) "contents", when used with respect to any wire, oral, or
electronic communication, includes any information concerning the
substance, purport, or meaning of that communication;
[...]
(11) "aggrieved person" means a person who was a party to any
intercepted wire, oral, or electronic communication or a person
against whom the interception was directed;
(12) "electronic communication" means any transfer of signs,
signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature
transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic,
photoelectronic or photooptical system that affects interstate or
foreign commerce, but does not include--
(A) any wire or oral communication;
(B) any communication made through a tone-only paging device;
(C) any communication from a tracking device (as defined in
section 3117 of this title); or
(D) electronic funds transfer information stored by a financial
institution in a communications system used for the electronic storage
and transfer of funds;
(13) "user" means any person or entity who--
(A) uses an electronic communication service; and
(B) is duly authorized by the provider of such service to engage
in such use;
(14) "electronic communications system" means any wire, radio,
electromagnetic, photooptical or photoelectronic facilities for the
transmission of wire or electronic communications, and any computer
facilities or related electronic equipment for the electronic storage
of such communications;
(15) "electronic communication service" means any service which
provides to users thereof the ability to send or receive wire or
electronic communications;
(16) "readily accessible to the general public" means, with respect
to a radio communication, that such communication is not--
(A) scrambled or encrypted;
(B) transmitted using modulation techniques whose essential
parameters have been withheld from the public with the intention of
preserving the privacy of such communication;
(C) carried on a subcarrier or other signal subsidiary to a
radio transmission;
(D) transmitted over a communication system provided by a common
carrier, unless the communication is a tone only paging system
communication; or
(E) transmitted on frequencies allocated under part 25, subpart
D, E, or F of part 74, or part 94 of the Rules of the Federal
Communications Commission, unless, in the case of a communication
transmitted on a frequency allocated under part 74 that is not
exclusively allocated to broadcast auxiliary services, the
communication is a two-way voice communication by radio;
(F) [Deleted]
(17) "electronic storage" means--
(A) any temporary, intermediate storage of a wire or electronic
communication incidental to the electronic transmission thereof; and
(B) any storage of such communication by an electronic
communication service for purposes of backup protection of such
communication;
[...]
Edited version:
(1) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, any
person who--
(a) intentionally intercepts, endeavors to intercept, or procures
any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept, any wire,
oral, or electronic communication;
(b) intentionally uses, endeavors to use, or procures any other
person to use or endeavor to use any electronic, mechanical, or other
device to intercept any oral communication when--
(i) such device is affixed to, or otherwise transmits a signal
through, a wire, cable, or other like connection used in wire
communication; or
(ii) such device transmits communications by radio, or
interferes with the transmission of such communication; or
(iii) such person knows, or has reason to know, that such device
or any component thereof has been sent through the mail or transported
in interstate or foreign commerce; or
(iv) such use or endeavor to use (A) takes place on the premises
of any business or other commercial establishment the operations of
which affect interstate or foreign commerce; or (B) obtains or is for
the purpose of obtaining information relating to the operations of any
business or other commercial establishment the operations of which
affect interstate or foreign commerce; or
(v) such person acts in the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or possession of the
United States;
(c) intentionally discloses, or endeavors to disclose, to any other
person the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic communication,
knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained
through the interception of a wire, oral, or electronic communication
in violation of this subsection;
(d) intentionally uses, or endeavors to use, the contents of any
wire, oral, or electronic communication, knowing or having reason to
know that the information was obtained through the interception of a
wire, oral, or electronic communication in violation of this
subsection; or
(e) (i) intentionally discloses, or endeavors to disclose, to any
other person the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic
communication, intercepted by means authorized by sections
2511(2)(a)(ii), 2511(2)(b)-(c), 2511(2)(e), 2516, and 2518 of this
chapter, (ii) knowing or having reason to know that the information
was obtained through the interception of such a communication in
connection with a criminal investigation, (iii) having obtained or
received the information in connection with a criminal investigation,
and (iv) with intent to improperly obstruct, impede, or interfere with
a duly authorized criminal investigation,
shall be punished as provided in subsection (4) or shall be subject to
suit as provided in subsection (5).
(2) (a) (i) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for an
operator of a switchboard, or an officer, employee, or agent of a
provider of wire or electronic communication service, whose
facilities are used in the transmission of a wire or electronic
communication, to intercept, disclose, or use that communication in
the normal course of his employment while engaged in any activity
which is a necessary incident to the rendition of his service or to
the protection of the rights or property of the provider of that
service, except that a provider of wire communication service to
the public shall not utilize service observing or random monitoring
except for mechanical or service quality control checks.
[...]
(d) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter [18 USCS '' 2510 et
seq.] for a person not acting under color of law to intercept a wire,
oral, or electronic communication where such person is a party to the
communication or where one of the parties to the communication has
given prior consent to such interception unless such communication is
intercepted for the purpose of committing any criminal or tortious act
in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States or of
any State.
[...]
(g) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter or chapter 121
of this title for any person--
(i) to intercept or access an electronic communication made
through an electronic communication system that is configured so that
such electronic communication is readily accessible to the general
public;
[...]
(3)
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, a person
or entity providing an electronic communication service to the public
shall not intentionally divulge the contents of any communication
(other than one to such person or entity, or an agent thereof) while
in transmission on that service to any person or entity other than an
addressee or intended recipient of such communication or an agent of
such addressee or intended recipient.
(b) A person or entity providing electronic communication service
to the public may divulge the contents of any such communication--
(i) as otherwise authorized in section 2511(2)(a) or 2517 of
this title;
(ii) with the lawful consent of the originator or any addressee
or intended recipient of such communication;
(iii) to a person employed or authorized, or whose facilities
are used, to forward such communication to its destination; or
(iv) which were inadvertently obtained by the service provider
and which appear to pertain to the commission of a crime, if such
divulgence is made to a law enforcement agency.
(4)
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection or in
subsection (5), whoever violates subsection (1) of this section shall
be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or
both.
[...]
Unlawful access to stored communications
(a) Offense. Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section
whoever--
(1) intentionally accesses without authorization a facility through
which an electronic communication service is provided; or
(2) intentionally exceeds an authorization to access that facility;
and thereby obtains, alters, or prevents authorized access to a wire
or electronic communication while it is in electronic storage in such
system shall be punished as provided in subsection (b) of this
section.
(b) Punishment. The punishment for an offense under subsection (a) of
this section is--
(1) if the offense is committed for purposes of commercial
advantage, malicious destruction or damage, or private commercial
gain, or in furtherance of any criminal or tortious act in violation
of the Constitution or laws of the United States or any State--
(A) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than 5
years, or both, in the case of a first offense under this
subparagraph; and
(B) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than 10
years, or both, for any subsequent offense under this subparagraph;
and
(2) in any other case--
(A) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than 1
year or both, in the case of a first offense under this paragraph; and
(B) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than 5
years, or both, in the case of an offense under this subparagraph that
occurs after a conviction of another offense under this section.
(c) Exceptions. Subsection (a) of this section does not apply with
respect to conduct authorized--
(1) by the person or entity providing a wire or electronic
communications service;
(2) by a user of that service with respect to a communication of or
intended for that user; or
(3) in section 2703, 2704 or 2518 of this title.
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 the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in
connection with a report submitted thereto under section 227 of the
Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13032);
(7) 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) [Deleted]
(8) 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;
(5) to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in
connection with a report submitted thereto under section 227 of the
Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13032); or
(6) to any person other than a governmental entity.
Edited version:
[...]
(2) the term "remote computing service" means the provision to the
public of computer storage or processing services by means of an
electronic communications system
[...]