South Carolina Code 17-30-40. Disclosure of content of communication by provider of electronic communication service
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(A) Except as provided in subsection (B), a person or entity providing an electronic communication service to the public must not intentionally divulge the contents of any communication while in transmission on 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.
(B) A person or entity providing electronic communication service to the public may divulge the contents of the communication:
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 17-30-40
- Contents: when used with respect to any wire, oral, or electronic communication, include any information concerning the substance, purport, or meaning of that communication. See South Carolina Code 17-30-15
- 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, photooptical system, or any other device that affects intrastate, 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 an electronic or mechanical device which permits the tracking of the movement of a person or an object; or
(d) electronic funds transfer information stored by a financial institution in a communications system used for the electronic storage and transfer of funds. See South Carolina Code 17-30-15 - Electronic communication service: means any service which provides to users of the service the ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications. See South Carolina Code 17-30-15
- Law enforcement agency: means the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) or an agency of the United States if the primary responsibility of the agency is the prevention and detection of crime and if its agents and officers are empowered by law to conduct criminal investigations and to make arrests. See South Carolina Code 17-30-15
- Person: means an employee or agent of the State of South Carolina or political subdivision of the State, of the United States, or of any other state or political subdivision of the State, and any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, or corporation. See South Carolina Code 17-30-15
(1) as otherwise authorized by this chapter;
(2) with the lawful consent of the originator or any addressee or intended recipient of the communication;
(3) to a person employed or authorized, or whose facilities are used to forward the communication to its destination; or
(4) which were inadvertently obtained by the service provider and which appeared to pertain to the commission of a crime, if the divulgence is made to a law enforcement agency.