ItalyCodice Penale, Article 617, Unlawful Cognizance, Interruption or Prevention of Telephone or Telegraph Communications or Conversations
In force since .
An interception and recording consent rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
As of .
What it requires
- Do not fraudulently take cognizance of a telephone or telegraph communication or conversation between other persons, or in any case not directed to you, and do not interrupt or prevent it.
- Do not reveal, through any means of public information, all or part of the content of such communications or conversations.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Article 617(1) and (2) carry imprisonment of one year and six months to five years. The offenses are prosecuted on complaint, but where the act is committed against a public official or person in charge of a public service in the exercise or because of their functions, by such a person abusing powers or violating duties, or by a person who practices, even unlawfully, as a private investigator, the authority proceeds of its own motion and the penalty is imprisonment of three to eight years.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Criminal prosecution, on the complaint of the injured person or, in the cases of Article 617(3), of the prosecuting authority's own motion.
What this law does
Article 617(1) punishes with imprisonment of one year and six months to five years anyone who fraudulently takes cognizance of a telephone or telegraph communication or conversation between other persons, or in any case not directed to them, or interrupts or prevents it. Unless the act is a more serious offense, Article 617(2) applies the same penalty to anyone who reveals, through any means of public information, all or part of the content of those communications or conversations.
The offenses are prosecutable on the complaint of the injured person, but the authority proceeds of its own motion, with imprisonment of three to eight years, where the act is committed against a public official or person in charge of a public service in the exercise or because of their functions, by such a person abusing powers or violating duties, or by a person who practices, even unlawfully, as a private investigator. Law 238 of amended Article 617 through its Article 19(3)(a) and (b).
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app records conversations or processes voice recordings.