Employee Monitoring Law Planner
Sources

California Penal Code section 631 (wiretapping)

Law. Placed at California. Read 30 Sep 2026; 4 provisions cited by the planner.

What does Cal. Penal Code 631 require?

A person must not, by any machine, instrument or contrivance or in any other manner, intentionally tap or make any unauthorized physical, electrical, acoustic, inductive or other connection with a telegraph or telephone wire, line, cable or instrument, including one of an internal telephonic communication system. Also cited: 631(a), do not use information obtained by wiretapping or reading communications in transit; 631(a), do not read or learn the contents of a communication in transit without the consent of all parties.

Cal. Penal Code 631(a)Do not tap or make unauthorized connections with telephone lines or instruments, including internal phone systems

A person must not, by any machine, instrument or contrivance or in any other manner, intentionally tap or make any unauthorized physical, electrical, acoustic, inductive or other connection with a telegraph or telephone wire, line, cable or instrument, including one of an internal telephonic communication system. Penalty: a fine of up to 2,500 dollars, up to one year in county jail or imprisonment under s. 1170(h), or both; up to 10,000 dollars after a prior conviction under ss. 631, 632, 632.5, 632.6, 632.7 or 636.

What a reviewer asks to see: Change and access records for the organisation's phone system (PBX, cloud telephony) showing no unauthorized taps, bridges or forwarding; Approval records for any connection or integration added to internal telephone systems
Where monitoring plans usually fall short: Recording or forwarding rules added to the phone system without authorization; Unapproved integrations with access to call audio
Source: California Penal Code section 631 (wiretapping), read 30 Sep 2026
Cal. Penal Code 631(a)Do not use information obtained by wiretapping or reading communications in transit

A person must not use, or try to use, in any manner or for any purpose, or communicate in any way, any information obtained by tapping or by reading communications in transit in breach of 631(a).

What a reviewer asks to see: Data-use restrictions for content obtained from communications monitoring, and evidence vendors do not reuse it; Provenance review before such information is used in decisions
Where monitoring plans usually fall short: Captured chat content used for advertising or model training without all parties' consent
Source: California Penal Code section 631 (wiretapping), read 30 Sep 2026
Cal. Penal Code 631(a)Do not read or learn the contents of a communication in transit without the consent of all parties

A person must not wilfully, without the consent of all parties to the communication or in any unauthorized manner, read or try to read, or learn the contents or meaning of, any message, report or communication while it is in transit or passing over any wire, line or cable, or being sent from or received at any place in California. For an organisation this reaches tools that capture message content as it passes, such as third-party chat, session replay or call analytics services, where not every party has consented.

What a reviewer asks to see: Inventory of website, app and telephony tools that capture communication content in transit, with the consent obtained from every party (visitor, caller, employee); Consent banner or pre-chat notice shown before a chat or recorded session starts, with logs; Contract terms limiting vendors' use of captured content to providing the service to the organisation
Where monitoring plans usually fall short: Chat widget vendor captures and uses visitor messages with no consent from the visitor; Session replay capturing form entries before consent; Call analytics vendor reading calls in real time without an announcement
Source: California Penal Code section 631 (wiretapping), read 30 Sep 2026
Cal. Penal Code 631(a)Do not aid, agree with, employ or conspire with anyone to wiretap or read communications in transit

A person must not aid, agree with, employ or conspire with any person to unlawfully do, permit or cause any of the acts in 631(a). An organisation that deploys a third party's tool which reads communications in transit can be exposed under this clause as well as the tool provider.

What a reviewer asks to see: Privacy review of every third-party tool embedded in websites, apps and telephony that can access communication content; Contract clauses requiring vendors to act only as the organisation's service provider and prohibiting independent use
Where monitoring plans usually fall short: Marketing team installs a chat or tracking tool without privacy review; Vendor contract allows the vendor to use captured communications for its own purposes
Source: California Penal Code section 631 (wiretapping), read 30 Sep 2026

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