76-9-402. Privacy violation.
| (1) |
Attorney's NoteUnder the Utah Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|
| class B misdemeanor | up to 6 months | up to $1,000 |
For details, see Utah Code § 76-3-204
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Terms Used In Utah Code 76-9-402
| (a) |
A property owner has an expectation of privacy regarding characteristics, data, or information pertaining to the owner’s property that:
| (i) |
is not immediately apparent through routine visual observation of the property; and |
| (ii) |
requires ground-penetrating technology to detect, observe, measure, map, or otherwise capture information or data about the property or characteristics of the property. |
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| (2) |
A person is guilty of privacy violation if, except as authorized by law, the person:
| (a) |
trespasses on property with intent to subject anyone to eavesdropping or other surveillance in a private place; |
| (b) |
installs, or uses after unauthorized installation in a private place, without the consent of the person or persons entitled to privacy in the private place, any device for observing, photographing, hearing, recording, amplifying, or broadcasting sounds or events in the private place; |
| (c) |
installs or uses outside of a private place a device for observing, photographing, hearing, recording, amplifying, or broadcasting sounds or events originating in the private place which would not ordinarily be audible, visible, or comprehensible outside the private place, without the consent of the person or persons entitled to privacy in the private place; or |
| (d) |
uses ground-penetrating technology, without the consent of the property owner, to detect, observe, measure, map, or otherwise capture information or data about the property or characteristics of the property of another for which the property owner has an expectation of privacy as described in Subsection (1). |
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| (3) |
A person is not guilty of a violation of this section if:
| (a) |
the device used is an unmanned aircraft; |
| (b) |
the person is operating the unmanned aircraft for legitimate commercial or educational purposes in a manner consistent with applicable Federal Aviation Administration rules, exemptions, or other authorizations; and |
| (c) |
any conduct described in Subsection (2) that occurs via the unmanned aircraft is solely incidental to the lawful commercial or educational use of the unmanned aircraft. |
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| (4) |
For a person who commits a violation of Subsection (2), a court may order the person to remove and destroy any data collected by the person in the commission of the violation of Subsection (2). |
| (5) |
Privacy violation is a class B misdemeanor. |
| (6) |
| (a) |
This section does not apply to lawful practices of:
| (i) |
a law enforcement agency; or |
| (ii) |
another government entity. |
|
| (b) |
Subsection (2)(d) does not apply to a land surveyor if:
| (i) |
the land surveyor is performing a survey service in good faith pursuant to a bona fide contract; and |
| (ii) |
for any data pertaining to property not owned by a party to the contract described in Subsection (6)(b)(i) that is captured incidentally by the land surveyor, the land surveyor:
| (A) |
does not share, publish, sell, or distribute any incidentally captured data pertaining to property that is not relevant to the contract described in Subsection (6)(b)(i); and |
| (B) |
upon completion of the contract, deletes or destroys any data pertaining to property that is not the subject of the contract. |
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Amended by Chapter 510, 2023 General Session
