Penalties Under the ECPA
The ECPA created penalties for any person who intentionally:
1) intercepts, uses or discloses any wire or oral communication by using any electronic, mechanical, or other device, or
2) without authority accesses a wire or electronic communication while in storage.
What types of communications are covered?
The law applies to traditional telephone wiretaps, cordless telephone interceptions, electronic messages, voicemail systems, pagers, chat logs, web-streaming video, voice over IP, and recording or videotaping private face-to-face conversations. This list is not exhaustive but provides a hint of the wide-ranging application of this law to many types of communication