CHAPTER 711 Offenses Against Public Order
HRS § 711-1111 (2006)
§ 711-1111. Violation of privacy in the second degree.
(1) A person commits the offense of violation of privacy in the second degree
if, except in the execution of a public duty or as authorized by law, the person
intentionally:
(a) Trespasses on property for the purpose of subjecting anyone to eavesdropping
or other surveillance in a private place;
(b) Installs or uses, or both, in any private place, without consent of the
person or persons entitled to privacy therein, any device for observing,
recording, amplifying, or broadcasting sounds or events in that place other than
another person in a stage of undress or sexual activity;
(c) Installs or uses outside a private place any device for hearing, recording,
amplifying, or broadcasting sounds originating in that place which would not
ordinarily be audible or comprehensible outside, without the consent of the
person or persons entitled to privacy therein;
(d) Covertly records or broadcasts an image of another person's intimate area
underneath clothing, by use of any device, and that image is taken while that
person is in a public place and without that person's consent;
(e) Intercepts, without the consent of the sender or receiver, a message or
photographic image by telephone, telegraph, letter, electronic transmission, or
other means of communicating privately; but this paragraph does not apply to:
(i) Overhearing of messages through a regularly installed instrument on a
telephone party line or an extension; or
(ii) Interception by the telephone company, electronic mail account provider, or
telephone or electronic mail subscriber incident to enforcement of regulations
limiting use of the facilities or incident to other operation and use;
(f) Divulges without the consent of the sender or the receiver the existence or
contents of any message or photographic image by telephone, telegraph, letter,
electronic transmission, or other means of communicating privately, if the
accused knows that the message or photographic image was unlawfully intercepted
or if the accused learned of the message or photographic image in the course of
employment with an agency engaged in transmitting it; or
(g) Knowingly possesses materials created under circumstances prohibited in
section 711-1110.9.
(2) This section shall not apply to any dissemination, distribution, or transfer
of images subject to this section by an electronic communication service
provider or remote storage service in the ordinary course of its business. For
the purpose of this subsection:
"Electronic communication" means any transfer of signs, signals, writing,
images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or part
by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic, or photo-optical system.
"Electronic communication service provider" means any person engaged in the
offering or sale of electronic communication services to the public.
"Remote storage service" means the provision to the public of computer storage
or processing services by means of an electronic communication system.
"Electronic communication system" means any wire, radio, electromagnetic,
photo-optical, or photoelectronic facilities for the transmission of wire or
electronic communications, and any computer facilities or related electronic
equipment for the electronic storage of such communications, including e-mail,
web hosting, multimedia messaging services, and remote storage services offered
by an electronic communication service provider.
(3) For the purposes of this section:
"Intimate areas underneath clothing" does not include intimate areas visible
through a person's clothing or intimate areas exposed in public.
"Public place" means an area generally open to the public, regardless of whether
it is privately owned, and includes but is not limited to streets, sidewalks,
bridges, alleys, plazas, parks, driveways, parking lots, buses, tunnels,
buildings, stores, and restaurants.
(4) Violation of privacy in the second degree is a misdemeanor. In addition to
any penalties the court may impose, the court may order the destruction of any
recording made in violation of this section.