Pen. Code, § 629.51 · Chapter 1.4. Interception of Wire, Electronic Digital Pager, or Electronic Cellular Telephone Communications
Pen. Code, § 629.51
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Wire communication” means any aural transfer made in whole or in part through the use of facilities for the transmission of communications by the aid of wire, cable, or other like connection between the point of origin and the point of reception (including the use of a like connection in a switching station), furnished or operated by any person engaged in providing or operating these facilities for the transmission of communications.
(2) “Electronic communication” means any transfer of signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical system, but does not include any of the following:
(A) Any wire communication defined in paragraph (1).
(B) Any communication made through a tone-only paging device.
(C) Any communication from a tracking device.
(D) Electronic funds transfer information stored by a financial institution in a communications system used for the electronic storage and transfer of funds.
(3) “Tracking device” means an electronic or mechanical device that permits the tracking of the movement of a person or object.
(4) “Aural transfer” means a transfer containing the human voice at any point between and including the point of origin and the point of reception.
(5) (A) “Prohibited violation” means any violation of law that creates liability for, or arising out of, either of the following:
(i) Providing, facilitating, or obtaining a legally protected health care activity, as defined in Section 1549.15, that is lawful under California law.
(ii) Intending or attempting to provide, facilitate, or obtain a legally protected health care activity, as defined in Section 1549.15, that is lawful under California law.
(B) As used in this paragraph, “facilitating” or “facilitate” means assisting, directly or indirectly in any way, with the obtaining of a legally protected health care activity, as defined in Section 1549.15, that is lawful under California law.
(b) This chapter applies to the interceptions of wire and electronic communications. It does not apply to stored communications or stored content.
(c) The act that added this subdivision is not intended to change the law as to stored communications or stored content.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 679, Sec. 9. (AB 82) Effective January 1, 2026. Repealed as of January 1, 2030, pursuant to Section 629.98.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=629.51.
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- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
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