(a) An individual whose wire or electronic communication is intercepted, disclosed, or used in violation of this chapter shall have a civil cause of action against any individual who intercepts, discloses, or uses, or procures another individual to intercept, disclose, or use, the communication, and is entitled to recover from the individual or entity which engaged in the violation any of the following:

Attorney's Note

Under the Alabama Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Violationup to 30 daysup to $200
For details, see Ala. Code § 13A-5-7

Terms Used In Alabama Code 20-2B-12

  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • following: means next after. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • property: includes both real and personal property. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • United States: includes the territories thereof and the District of Columbia. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(1) Actual damages.
(2) Punitive damages.
(3) Reasonable attorney’s fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred.
(b) This section does not apply to any of the following individuals if acting in a reasonable manner pursuant to this chapter:

(1) An operator of a switchboard, or an officer, employee, or agent of a communication common carrier or a communications service provider whose facilities are used in the transmission of a wire communication, who intercepts a communication, or who discloses or uses an intercepted communication in the normal course of employment while engaged in an activity that is a necessary incident to the rendition of service or to the protection of the rights or property of the carrier of the communication.
(2) An officer, employee, or agent of a communication common carrier or communications service provider who employs or uses any equipment or device that may be attached to any telephonic equipment of any subscriber which permits the interception and recording of any telephonic communications solely for the purposes of business service improvements.
(3) An officer, employee, or agent of a communication common carrier or communications service provider who provides information, facilities, or technical assistance to an investigative officer who is authorized as provided by this chapter to intercept a wire or electronic communication.
(4) An individual acting under authority of law who intercepts a wire or electronic communication if the individual is a party to the communication, or if one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to the interception.
(5) An individual not acting under authority of law who intercepts a wire or electronic communication if the individual is a party to the communication, or if one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to the interception, unless the 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 this state or for the purpose of committing any other injurious act.
(c) A good faith reliance on a court order is a complete defense to any civil cause of action brought under this chapter.
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