§ 2422 — Divulging contents of communications generally

(a)Prohibited acts. —(1) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a person or entity providing an electronic communications service to the public may not knowingly divulge to any other person or entity the contents of a communication while the communication is in electronic storage by that service.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a person or entity providing remote computing service to the public may not knowingly divulge to any other person or entity the contents of any communication which is carried or maintained on that service which it has received:

a. On behalf of and by means of computer processing of communication or by means of electronic transmission from a subscriber or customer of the service; and

b. Solely for the purpose of providing storage or computer processing services to a subscriber or customer if the provider is not authorized to access the contents of any communications for purposes of providing any services other than storage or computer processing.

(b)Lawful acts. —A person or entity may divulge the contents of a communication:

(1) To an addressee or intended recipient of the communication or an agent of the addressee or intended recipient;

(2) With the lawful consent of the originator or an addressee or intended recipient of the communication, or the subscriber, in the case of remote computing service;

(3) To a person employed or authorized by facilities or services used to forward the communication to its destination;

(4) If necessarily incident to the rendition of the service or to the protection of the rights or property of the provider of that service;

(5) To a law-enforcement agency if the contents were inadvertently obtained by the service provider and appear to pertain to the commission of a crime; or

(6) If otherwise authorized under the provisions of this chapter.

Legislative History

72 Del. Laws, c. 232, § 1