Electronic Surveillance Spying & Snooping May Be Illegal in Tennessee Divorce

Words of Caution to Snooping Spouses in a Tennessee Divorce Case: Your Electronic Spying and Surveillance May Be Illegal Trying to Detect a Cheating Spouse

Electronic Surveilance, Spying & Snooping May Be Illegal in Tennessee Divorce

Electronic Surveillance, Spying & Snooping May Be Illegal in Tennessee Divorce

Although the reasons for why married couples divorce are varied and complex, adultery is definitely at the top of the list as one of the leading causes of divorce.  While the internet and mobile phones have made committing adultery easier and more convenient, these technological advances have also made it easier to catch a cheating spouse.  But beware; there could be legal consequences to your electronic snooping.  Before you decide to use electronic surveillance to find out what your spouse is up to, you should contact an experienced Memphis family law attorney to get sound advice about Tennessee laws.

Electronic Surveillance

These days, cell phone and computer spyware is big business.  Everything from call records, photos and video clips, email messages, voice mail and text messages, can all be monitored.  Cell phones can even be used to track a spouse’s whereabouts with GPS.  All aspects of computer use can be monitored through spyware, which not only can trace website visits, but can also provide access to email passwords.  Spying on one’s spouse could also include tapping telephones, intercepting emails, accessing stored computer files, or recording visual and audio images.

While spying on your spouse is not necessarily illegal per se, the method you use could be.  This is the main factor in determining if your behavior crosses the line from snooping to breaking the law.

Federal Laws

The body of law concerning electronic surveillance of spouses in divorce cases continues to rapidly evolve.   A federal law which is commonly referred to as the Wiretap Act, revised in 1986 by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), has been applied to divorce cases in federal courts in Tennessee.  This law allows for criminal penalties, civil damages, and/or injunctive relief for certain acts relating to the interception and disclosure of electronic communications.

According to the ECPA, electronic communication would include traditional telephone wiretaps, cordless telephone interceptions, email messages, voicemail systems, pagers, chat logs, web-streaming video, and recording or videotaping of private communications. Under this Act, individuals are also prohibited from intentionally using or endeavoring to use the contents of an electronic communication knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained in violation of the law.

It’s important to note that the ECPA only prohibits intentional, unauthorized interception, disclosure, or use of electronic communications in which there is an expectation of privacy.  For example, your spouse has an expectation of privacy in his or her private email account messages unless your spouse consents to you accessing his or her email account.  There is no expectation of privacy in information publicly accessible on a Facebook page.  Of course, if you receive the communication unintentionally, there is no ECPA violation.

Tennessee Law

Many states also have similar laws imposing additional penalties.  The Tennessee Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act, for example, makes it a Class D felony to intentionally intercept, access or procure another person to intercept or access unauthorized communications.  Under this law, a spouse whose privacy was violated may file a civil lawsuit to recover actual damages.  This could include damages to personal or business reputation or relationships and any profits made by the violating spouse.  Statutory damages in the amount of ten thousand dollars or one hundred dollars a day for each day of violation, whichever is greater, are also available.  The court may additionally allow the violated spouse to collect punitive damages intended to punish and deter legal violations as well as reasonable attorney’s fees.

Your spouse could also bring a common law invasion of privacy lawsuit against you.  Tennessee recognizes an invasion of privacy as an unreasonable intrusion upon the seclusion of another.  An individual’s privacy may be invaded by physical intrusion upon his or her seclusion or solitude, or private affairs, in a way which would be highly offensive to a reasonable person. The intrusion must be so objectionable that an ordinary, reasonable person would find it to be highly offensive.  Consequently, whether an intrusion is considered by a court to be objectively offensive is largely a matter of social conventions and expectations recognized by the law.

In some instances, the common-law invasion of privacy claim and the divorce case are consolidated into one legal proceeding. If the invasion of privacy was extreme and egregious, the violating spouse could be subject to significant damages which could be collected by an offset against the marital assets in a divorce.

It is not unusual for individuals contemplating divorce to believe that they may receive a better divorce settlement, alimony or child support award if they produce dirt on their spouse, which motivates electronic spying.  However, if your actions and method of snooping rise to the level of breaking the law, you could actually make the situation worse by harming your divorce case.  It is best to play it smart by contacting a Tennessee divorce lawyer before you take any actions which you might regret.

For more information, see:

Memphis divorce lawyer, Miles Mason, Sr., JD, CPA practices family law exclusively and is founder of the Miles Mason Family Law Group, PLC, which handles Tennessee family law matters including divorce, child support, alimony, prenuptial agreements, child custody, parental relocation, child support modification, alimony modification, and divorces including business valuation and forensic accounting issues.

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