Header:
PENNSYLVANIA CONSOLIDATED STATUTES
TITLE 18. CRIMES AND OFFENSES
PART II. DEFINITION OF SPECIFIC OFFENSES
ARTICLE F. OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER AND DECENCY
CHAPTER 57. WIRETAPPING AND ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE
SUBCHAPTER B. WIRE, ELE
Date:
08/31/2009
Document:
NOTICE: Pursuant to 18 Pa.C.S. § 5781, this Chapter will expire on December 31, 2008, unless extended by Statute.
§ 5704. Exceptions to prohibition of interception and disclosure of communications
It shall not be unlawful and no prior court approval shall be required under this chapter for:
(1) An operator of a switchboard, or an officer, agent or employee of a
provider of wire or electronic communication service, whose facilities
are used in the transmission of a wire 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 wire or electronic communication service.
However, no provider of wire or electronic communication service shall
utilize service observing or random monitoring except for mechanical or
service quality control checks.
(2) Any investigative or law enforcement officer or any person acting
at the direction or request of an investigative or law enforcement
officer to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication involving
suspected criminal activities, including, but not limited to, the
crimes enumerated in section 5708 (relating to order authorizing
interception of wire, electronic or oral communications), where:
(i) Deleted.
(ii) one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent
to such interception. However, no interception under this paragraph
shall be made unless the Attorney General or a deputy attorney
general designated in writing by the Attorney General, or the
district attorney, or an assistant district attorney designated in
writing by the district attorney, of the county wherein the
interception is to be made, has reviewed the facts and is satisfied
that the consent is voluntary and has given prior approval for the
interception; however such interception shall be subject to the
recording and record keeping requirements of section 5714(a)
(relating to recording of intercepted communications) and that the
Attorney General, deputy attorney general, district attorney or
assistant district attorney authorizing the interception shall be the
custodian of recorded evidence obtained therefrom;
(iii) the investigative or law enforcement officer meets in person
with a suspected felon and wears a concealed electronic or mechanical
device capable of intercepting or recording oral communications.
However, no interception under this subparagraph may be used in any
criminal prosecution except for a prosecution involving harm done to
the investigative or law enforcement officer. This subparagraph
shall not be construed to limit the interception and disclosure
authority provided for in this subchapter; or
(iv) the requirements of this subparagraph are met. If an oral
interception otherwise authorized under this paragraph will take
place in the home of a nonconsenting party, then, in addition to the
requirements of subparagraph (ii), the interception shall not be
conducted until an order is first obtained from the president judge,
or his designee who shall also be a judge, of a court of common
pleas, authorizing such in-home interception, based upon an affidavit
by an investigative or law enforcement officer that establishes
probable cause for the issuance of such an order. No such order or
affidavit shall be required where probable cause and exigent
circumstances exist. For the purposes of this paragraph, an oral
interception shall be deemed to take place in the home of a
nonconsenting party only if both the consenting and nonconsenting
parties are physically present in the home at the time of the
interception.
(3) Police and emergency communications systems to record telephone
communications coming into and going out of the communications system
of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency or a police department,
fire department or county emergency center, if:
(i) the telephones thereof are limited to the exclusive use of the
communication system for administrative purposes and provided the
communication system employs a periodic warning which indicates to
the parties to the conversation that the call is being recorded;
(ii) all recordings made pursuant to this clause, all notes made
therefrom, and all transcriptions thereof may be destroyed at any
time, unless required with regard to a pending matter; and
(iii) at least one nonrecorded telephone line is made available for
public use at the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and at
each police department, fire department or county emergency center.
(4) A person, to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication,
where all parties to the communication have given prior consent to such
interception.
(5) Any investigative or law enforcement officer, or communication
common carrier acting at the direction of an investigative or law
enforcement officer or in the normal course of its business, to use a
pen register, trap and trace device, or telecommunication
identification interception device as provided in Subchapter E
(relating to pen registers, trap and trace devices and
telecommunication identification interception devices).
(6) Personnel of any public utility to record telephone conversations
with utility customers or the general public relating to receiving and
dispatching of emergency and service calls provided there is, during
such recording, a periodic warning which indicates to the parties to
the conversation that the call is being recorded.
(7) A user, or any officer, employee or agent of such user, to record
telephone communications between himself and a contractor or designer,
or any officer, employee or agent of such contractor or designer,
pertaining to excavation or demolition work or other related matters,
if the user or its agent indicates to the parties to the conversation
that the call will be or is being recorded. As used in this paragraph,
the terms "user," "contractor," "demolition work," "designer" and
"excavation work" shall have the meanings given to them in the act of
December 10, 1974 (P.L. 852, No. 287), referred to as the Underground
Utility Line Protection Law; and a one call system shall be
considered for this purpose to be an agent of any user which is a
member thereof.
(8) A provider of electronic communication service to record the fact
that a wire or electronic communication was initiated or completed in
order to protect the provider, another provider furnishing service
toward the completion of the wire or electronic communication, or a
user of that service, from fraudulent, unlawful or abusive use of the
service.
(9) A person or entity providing electronic communication service to
the public to divulge the contents of any such communication:
(i) as otherwise authorized in this section or section 5717 (relating
to investigative disclosure or use of contents of wire, electronic or
oral communications or derivative evidence);
(ii) with the lawful consent of the originator or any addressee or
intended recipient of the communication;
(iii) to a person employed or authorized, or whose facilities are
used, to forward the 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.
A person or entity providing electronic communication service to the
public shall not intentionally divulge the contents of any
communication (other than one directed to the person or entity, or an
agent thereof) while in transmission of that service to any person or
entity other than an addressee or intended recipient of the
communication or an agent of the addressee or intended recipient.
(10) Any person:
(i) to intercept or access an electronic communication made through
an electronic communication system configured so that the electronic
communication is readily accessible to the general public;
(ii) to intercept any radio communication which is transmitted:
(A) by a station for the use of the general public, or which
relates to ships, aircraft, vehicles or persons in distress;
(B) by any governmental, law enforcement, civil defense, private
land mobile or public safety communication system, including police
and fire systems, readily accessible to the general public;
(C) by a station operating on an authorized frequency within the
bands allocated to the amateur, citizens band or general mobile
radio services; or
(D) by any marine or aeronautical communication system;
(iii) to engage in any conduct which:
(a) is prohibited by section 633 of the Communications Act of 1934
(48 Stat. 1105, 47 U.S.C. § 553); or
(b) is excepted from the application of section 705(a) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. § 605(a)) by section 705(b)
of that act (47 U.S.C. § 605(b)); or
(iv) to intercept any wire or electronic communication the
transmission of which is causing harmful interference to any lawfully
operating station, to the extent necessary to identify the source of
the interference.
(11) Other users of the same frequency to intercept any radio
communication made through a system which utilizes frequencies
monitored by individuals engaged in the provisions or use of the
system, if the communication is not scrambled or encrypted.
(12) Any investigative or law enforcement officer or any person acting
at the direction or request of an investigative or law enforcement
officer to intercept a wire or oral communication involving suspected
criminal activities where the officer or the person is a party to the
communication and there is reasonable cause to believe that:
(i) the other party to the communication is either:
(A) holding a hostage; or
(B) has barricaded himself and taken a position of confinement to
avoid apprehension; and
(ii) that party:
(A) will resist with the use of weapons; or
(B) is threatening suicide or harm to others.
(13) An investigative officer, a law enforcement officer or employees
of the Department of Corrections for State correctional facilities to
intercept, record, monitor or divulge any telephone calls from or to an
inmate in a facility under the following conditions:
(i) The Department of Corrections shall adhere to the following
procedures and restrictions when intercepting, recording, monitoring
or divulging any telephone calls from or to an inmate in a State
correctional facility as provided for by this paragraph:
(A) Before the implementation of this paragraph, all inmates of the
facility shall be notified in writing that, as of the effective
date of this paragraph, their telephone conversations may be
intercepted, recorded, monitored or divulged.
(B) Unless otherwise provided for in this paragraph, after
intercepting or recording a telephone conversation, only the
superintendent, warden or a designee of the superintendent or
warden or other chief administrative official or his or her
designee shall have access to that recording.
(C) The contents of an intercepted and recorded telephone
conversation shall be divulged only as is necessary to safeguard
the orderly operation of the facility, in response to a court order
or in the prosecution or investigation of any crime.
(ii) So as to safeguard the attorney-client privilege, the Department
of Corrections shall not intercept, record, monitor or divulge any
conversation between an inmate and an attorney.
(iii) Persons who are calling in to a facility to speak to an inmate
shall be notified that the call may be recorded or monitored.
(iv) The Department of Corrections shall promulgate guidelines to
implement the provisions of this paragraph for State correctional
facilities.
(14) An investigative officer, a law enforcement officer or employees
of a county correctional facility to intercept, record, monitor or
divulge any telephone calls from or to an inmate in a facility under
the following conditions:
(i) The county correctional facility shall adhere to the following
procedures and restrictions when intercepting, recording, monitoring
or divulging any telephone calls from or to an inmate in a county
correctional facility as provided for by this paragraph:
(A) Before the implementation of this paragraph, all inmates of the
facility shall be notified in writing that, as of the effective
date of this paragraph, their telephone conversations may be
intercepted, recorded, monitored or divulged.
(B) Unless otherwise provided for in this paragraph, after
intercepting or recording a telephone conversation, only the
superintendent, warden or a designee of the superintendent or
warden or other chief administrative official or his or her
designee shall have access to that recording.
(C) The contents of an intercepted and recorded telephone
conversation shall be divulged only as is necessary to safeguard
the orderly operation of the facility, in response to a court order
or in the prosecution or investigation of any crime.
(ii) So as to safeguard the attorney-client privilege, the county
correctional facility shall not intercept, record, monitor or divulge
any conversation between an inmate and an attorney.
(iii) Persons who are calling into a facility to speak to an inmate
shall be notified that the call may be recorded or monitored.
(iv) The superintendent, warden or a designee of the superintendent
or warden or other chief administrative official of the county
correctional system shall promulgate guidelines to implement the
provisions of this paragraph for county correctional facilities.
(15) The personnel of a business engaged in telephone marketing or
telephone customer service by means of wire, oral or electronic
communication to intercept such marketing or customer service
communications where such interception is made for the sole purpose of
training, quality control or monitoring by the business, provided that
one party involved in the communications has consented to such
intercept. Any communications recorded pursuant to this paragraph may
only be used by the business for the purpose of training or quality
control. Unless otherwise required by Federal or State law,
communications recorded pursuant to this paragraph shall be destroyed
within one year from the date of recording.
(16) A law enforcement officer, whether or not certified under section
5724 (relating to training), acting in the performance of his official
duties to intercept and record an oral communication between
individuals in accordance with the following:
(i) At the time of the interception, the oral communication does not
occur inside the residence of any of the individuals.
(ii) At the time of the interception, the law enforcement officer:
(A) is operating the visual or audible warning system of the law
enforcement officer's vehicle authorized by 75 Pa.C.S. § 4571
(relating to visual and audible signals on emergency vehicles) or
is clearly identifiable as a law enforcement officer;
(B) is in close proximity to the individuals' oral communication;
(C) is using an electronic, mechanical or other device which has
been approved under section 5706(b) (4)(relating to exceptions to
prohibitions in possession, sale, distribution, manufacture or
advertisement of electronic, mechanical or other devices) to
intercept the oral communication, the recorder of which is mounted
in the law enforcement officer's vehicle; and
(D) informs, as soon as reasonably practicable, the individuals
identifiably present that he has intercepted and recorded the oral
communication.
(iii) As used in this paragraph, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings given to them in this subparagraph:
"Law enforcement officer." A member of the Pennsylvania State Police
or an individual employed as a police officer who holds a current
certificate under 53 Pa.C.S. Ch. 21 Subch. D (relating to municipal
police education and training).
"Recorder." An electronic, mechanical or other device used to store
an oral communication on tape or on some other comparable medium.
|