ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS PRIVACY

COMPUTERS, CELL PHONES, SOCIAL MEDIA, VOICE RECORDING DEVICES

There are both Federal Laws and there are State Laws in South Carolina that address electronic communications “hacking” or voice recording. A violation of these laws may subject the wrongdoer to both criminal and civil liability as well as money damages. In addition, any information acquired through wiretapping or hacking may result in that information being inadmissible in a court proceeding.

It is not unusual for one spouse to “wiretap” the other. This includes computer hacking, cell phone hacking, social media hacking, or simply one spouse picking up the cell phone of the other to see what is stored on that device.

There are certain Federal Laws which may contradict State Laws. For example, in some states one party to a conversation may record that conversation without telling the other party. In other states, all parties to a conversation must agree to the recording of a conversation. This is only one example of many contradictions between State Law and Federal Law.

Richard has addressed this area of the law at numerous Continuing Legal Education seminars, at the New Judges Orientation School, as a featured speaker for Private Investigators Conferences and as a guest lecturer at the University of South Carolina School of Law.

The digital age is here and it is important to keep your information private. Integrity and experience count.