§ 2702. — Disclosure of contents.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 18USC2702]
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
(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, Sec. 201[(a)], Oct. 21, 1986, 100 Stat.
1860; amended Pub. L. 100-690, title VII, Sec. 7037, Nov. 18, 1988, 102
Stat. 4399; Pub. L. 105-314, title VI, Sec. 604(b), Oct. 30, 1998, 112
Stat. 2984; Pub. L. 107-56, title II, Sec. 212(a)(1), Oct. 26, 2001, 115
Stat. 284; Pub. L. 107-296, title II, Sec. 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, Sec. 225(d)(1)(B),
inserted ``or'' at end.
Subsec. (b)(6)(C). Pub. L. 107-296, Sec. 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, Sec. 225(d)(1)(A), (D), added par.
(7).
2001--Pub. L. 107-56, Secs. 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, Secs. 212(a)(1)(B), 224, temporarily
added par. (3). See Termination Date of 2001 Amendment note below.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 107-56, Secs. 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, Secs. 212(a)(1)(D), 224,
temporarily added subpar. (C). See Termination Date of 2001 Amendment
note below.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107-56, Secs. 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.
