Eavesdropping, Wiretapping and Tampering with Private Communications (criminal)
CT Eavesdropping Law
Communications
Criminalizes wiretapping by a non-party without either party's consent and mechanically overhearing or recording an in-person conversation without the consent of at least one party (a one-party-consent rule for criminal liability), and bars obtaining or divulging call contents through telephone company employees. Civil liability for recording phone calls without all-party consent is separate (52-570d).
- Where
- Connecticut
- Citation
- Conn. Gen. Stat. 53a-187 to 53a-189
- Status
- In force
- Enforced by
- State criminal prosecution
- People can sue
- No
- Penalties
- Eavesdropping is a class D felony (53a-189(b)); tampering with private communications is a class A misdemeanor (53a-188).
- Applies to
- Any person; normal operation of telephone companies is excluded from 'wiretapping' (53a-187(a)(1))
Practices it requires
- Do not intercept or record a telephone or cellular communication as a non-party without the consent of the sender or receiver.Conn. Gen. Stat. 53a-187(a)(1), 53a-189
- Do not overhear or record an in-person conversation by device, when not present, without the consent of at least one party.Conn. Gen. Stat. 53a-187(a)(2), 53a-189
- Telephone company personnel may not divulge, and others may not obtain from them, the contents or nature of communications without consent.Conn. Gen. Stat. 53a-188
Sources
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: Effective date of the 1969 Penal Code (1969 P.A. 828) not confirmed. | Related privacy crimes not entered separately: voyeurism (53a-189a) and unlawful dissemination of intimate images (53a-189c).
Research reference, not legal advice.