BILL NUMBER: AB 1671 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 25, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gomez
JANUARY 15, 2016
An act to amend Section 632 of, and to add Section 632.01 to, the
Penal Code, relating to confidential communications.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1671, as amended, Gomez. Confidential communications:
disclosure.
(1) Existing law makes it a crime for a person to intentionally
eavesdrop upon or record a confidential communication by means of an
electronic amplifying or recording device without the consent of all
parties to the confidential communication. Existing law defines a
confidential communication as any communication carried on in
circumstances that reasonably indicate that any party to the
communication desires it to be confined to the parties thereto.
This bill additionally would make it a crime for a person who
unlawfully eavesdrops upon or records a confidential communication as
described above to intentionally disclose, or attempt to disclose,
or to intentionally distribute, or attempt to distribute, the
contents of a confidential communication without the consent of all
parties to the confidential communication unless specified conditions
are met. The bill would also make it a crime for any person to
aid, abet, employ, or conspire with the
employ or direct any person who unlawfully eavesdrops
upon or records a confidential communication to unlawfully do,
permit, or cause the disclosure or distribution of the confidential
communication. to commit those acts. By creating
new crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law makes the above-specified crime of eavesdropping
punishable by a fine not to exceed $2,500 or imprisonment in a county
jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison for 16 months or
2 or 3 years. If the person has previously been convicted of
eavesdropping, or has previously been convicted of specified invasion
of privacy crimes, existing law requires the person to be punished
by a fine not exceeding $10,000, by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year, or in the state prison for 16 months or 2 or 3
years.
This bill would require the above-specified fines to be imposed on
a per-violation basis and would impose the same penalties prescribed
for the unlawful eavesdropping upon or recording of a confidential
communication to the disclosure crimes created by the bill. The bill
also would make various technical, nonsubstantive changes to existing
law.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 632 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
632. (a) A person who, intentionally and without the consent of
all parties to a confidential communication, uses an electronic
amplifying or recording device to eavesdrop upon or record the
confidential communication, whether the communication is carried on
among the parties in the presence of one another or by means of a
telegraph, telephone, or other device, except a radio, shall be
punished pursuant to subdivision (b).
(b) A violation of
subdivision (a) shall be punished by a fine not exceeding
two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per violation, or
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state
prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment. If the person has
previously been convicted of a violation of this section or Section
631, 632.5, 632.6, 632.7, or 636, the person shall be punished by a
fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per violation, by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state
prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(c)
(b) For the purposes of this section, "person" means an
individual, business association, partnership, corporation, limited
liability company, or other legal entity, and an individual acting or
purporting to act for or on behalf of any government or subdivision
thereof, whether federal, state, or local, but excludes an individual
known by all parties to a confidential communication to be
overhearing or recording the communication.
(d)
(c) For the purposes of this section, "confidential
communication" means any communication carried on in circumstances as
may reasonably indicate that any party to the communication desires
it to be confined to the parties thereto, but excludes a
communication made in a public gathering or in any legislative,
judicial, executive, or administrative proceeding open to the public,
or in any other circumstance in which the parties to the
communication may reasonably expect that the communication may be
overheard or recorded.
(e)
(d) Except as proof in an action or prosecution for
violation of this section, evidence obtained as a result of
eavesdropping upon or recording a confidential communication in
violation of this section is not admissible in any judicial,
administrative, legislative, or other proceeding.
(f)
(e) This section does not apply (1) to any public
utility engaged in the business of providing communications services
and facilities, or to the officers, employees, or agents thereof, if
the acts otherwise prohibited by this section are for the purpose of
construction, maintenance, conduct, or operation of the services and
facilities of the public utility, (2) to the use of any instrument,
equipment, facility, or service furnished and used pursuant to the
tariffs of a public utility, or (3) to any telephonic communication
system used for communication exclusively within a state, county,
city and county, or city correctional facility.
(g)
(f) This section does not apply to the use of hearing
aids and similar devices, by persons afflicted with impaired hearing,
for the purpose of overcoming the impairment to permit the hearing
of sounds ordinarily audible to the human ear.
SEC. 2. Section 632.01 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
632.01. (a) A person who violates subdivision (a) of Section
632, in addition to any punishment under that section,
632 shall be punished pursuant to subdivision
(c) if the person intentionally discloses or attempts to disclose, or
distributes or attempts to distribute, in any manner, in any forum,
including, but not limited to, Internet Web sites and social media,
or for any purpose, the contents of the confidential communication
obtained by that person in violation of subdivision (a) of Section
632. For purposes of this subdivision, "social media" means an
electronic service or account, or electronic content, including, but
not limited to, videos or still photographs, blogs, video blogs,
podcasts, instant and text messages, email, online services or
accounts, or Internet Web site profiles or locations.
(b) A person who aids, abets, employs, or conspires with
a employs or directs any person or persons to
unlawfully do, permit, or cause to be done
commit any act described in subdivision (a) of this section or
subdivision (a) of Section 632, 632
shall be punished pursuant to subdivision (c).
(c) A violation of subdivision (a) or (b) shall be punished by a
fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per
violation, or imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year,
or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment. If the
person has previously been convicted of a violation of this section,
the person shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand
dollars ($10,000) per violation, by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine and
imprisonment.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.