AustriaStGB
Officially Strafgesetzbuch (StGB), Misuse of Recording or Listening Devices (Section 120)
StGB, BGBl. Nr. 60/1974, § 120
In force since .
An interception and recording consent rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition, Consent
As of .
What it requires
- Do not use a recording device or a listening device to learn of a non-public statement of another person that was not meant for your own notice.
- Do not make a recording of another person's non-public statement accessible to a third party for whom it is not meant, and do not publish it, without the speaker's consent.
- Do not record a message transmitted by telecommunication that was not meant for you, or make it accessible to another unauthorized person or publish it, intending to obtain knowledge of its content for yourself or another unauthorized person.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Section 120(1) and (2): imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 720 daily rates. Section 120(2a): imprisonment of up to three months or a fine of up to 180 daily rates, where the act is not threatened with a stricter penalty under another provision. The offender is prosecuted only with the authorization of the injured person (section 120(3)).
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Criminal prosecution, which section 120(3) allows only with the authorization (Ermächtigung) of the injured person.
What this law does
Section 120(1) punishes whoever uses a recording device or a listening device to obtain knowledge, for themselves or another unauthorized person, of a non-public statement of another that was not meant for their own notice. The penalty under section 120(1) is imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 720 daily rates.
Section 120(2) punishes in the same way whoever, without the consent of the speaker, makes the sound recording of another's non-public statement accessible to a third party for whom it is not meant, or publishes such a recording.
Section 120(2a) punishes whoever records, makes accessible to another unauthorized person or publishes a message transmitted by telecommunication that was not meant for them, intending to obtain knowledge of its content for themselves or another unauthorized person, with imprisonment of up to three months or a fine of up to 180 daily rates, where the act is not threatened with a stricter penalty under the preceding provisions or another provision. Under section 120(3) the offender is prosecuted only with the authorization of the injured person.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app records conversations, processes voice recordings or deploys a chatbot.