Idaho Code

Idaho Code § 18-6701 (2026)

Definitions.

✓ current as of May 2026

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Definitions.

Definitions as used in this chapter:

(1) "Wire communication" means any aural transfer made in whole or in part through the use of facilities for the transmission of communications by the aid of wire, cable, or other like connection between the point of origin and the point of reception (including the use of such connection in a switching station), furnished or operated by any person engaged in providing or operating such facilities for the transmission of intrastate, interstate or foreign communications.

(2) "Oral communication" means any oral communication uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that such communication is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying such expectation but such term does not include any electronic communication.

(3) "Intercept" means the aural or other acquisition of the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication through the use of any electronic, mechanical, or other device.

(4) "Electronic, mechanical, or other device" means any device or apparatus which can be used to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication other than:

(a) Any telephone or telegraph instrument, equipment or facility or any component thereof:

(i) Furnished to the subscriber or user by a provider of wire or electronic communication service in the ordinary course of its business and being used by the subscriber or user in the ordinary course of its business or furnished by such subscriber or user for connection to the facilities of such service and used in the ordinary course of its business; or

(ii) Being used by a provider of wire or electronic communication service in the ordinary course of its business, or by an investigative or law enforcement officer in the ordinary course of his duties;

(b) A hearing aid or similar device being used to correct subnormal hearing to not better than normal;

(5) "Person" means any employee or agent of the state or political subdivision thereof and any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, cooperative, or corporation.

(6) "Investigative or law enforcement officer" means any officer of the state of Idaho who is empowered by law to conduct investigations of, or to make arrests for, offenses enumerated in this chapter and any attorney authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the prosecution of such offenses.

(7) "Contents" when used with respect to any wire, electronic or oral communication includes any information concerning the identity of the parties to such communication or the existence, substance, purport, or meaning of that communication.

(8) "Judge of competent jurisdiction" means a justice of the supreme court or a judge of a district court.

(9) "Aggrieved person" means a person who was a party to any illegally intercepted wire, electronic or oral communication or a person against whom the interception was illegally directed.

(10) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photooptical system, but does not include:

(a) Any wire or oral communication;

(b) Any communication made through a tone-only paging device;

(d) Electronic fund transfer information stored by a financial institution in a communications system used for the electronic storage and transfer of funds.

(11) "User" means any person or entity who:

(a) Uses an electronic communication service; and

(b) Is authorized by the provider of such service to engage in such use.

(12) "Electronic communications system" means any wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photooptical facilities for the transmission of electronic communications, and any computer facilities or related electronic equipment for the electronic storage of such communications.

(13) "Electronic communication service" means any service that provides to the users thereof the ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications.

(14) "Readily accessible to the general public" means, with respect to a radio communication, that such communication is not:

(a) Scrambled or encrypted;

(b) Transmitted using modulation techniques, the essential parameters of which have been withheld from the public with the intention of preserving the privacy of such communication;

(d) Transmitted over a communication system provided by a common carrier, unless the communication is a tone-only paging system communication; or

(e) Transmitted on frequencies set forth in 18 U.S.C. section 2510(16)(E).

(15) "Electronic storage" means:

(a) Any temporary, intermediate storage of a wire or electronic communication incidental to the electronic transmission thereof; and

(b) Any storage of such communication by an electronic communication service for purposes of backup protection of such communication.

(16) "Aural transfer" means a transfer containing the human voice at any point between and including the point of origin and the point of reception.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 13 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1987–2026 · leading case: Hoskins v. Howard, 971 P.2d 1135 (Idaho 1998).

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Hoskins v. Howard, 971 P.2d 1135 (Idaho 1998). · cites it 12× “Idaho Code § 18-6701 provides the following definitions: (1) “Wire Communication” means any communication made in whole or in part through the use of facilities for the transmission of communication by the aid of wire, cable, or other like connection between the point of origin…”

State v. Thompson, 760 P.2d 1162 (Idaho 1988). · cites it 4× “This approach is appropriate for determining probable cause under the Idaho wiretap statute, I.C. §§ 18-6701 through 18-6708. Before a judge may enter an ex parte wiretap order under this wiretap statute, the judge must determine "on the basis of the facts submitted by the…”

State v. Wilkins, 868 P.2d 1231 (Idaho 1994). · cites it 6× “” The need of the Ketchum Police to have a safe and secure police station outweighs any expectation of privacy the defendant could possibly maintain in this particular setting. Because there was no expectation of privacy in the booking room of the Ketchum Police Department, the…”

State v. Hensley, 187 P.3d 1227 (Idaho 2008). · cites it 5× “I.C. §§ 18-6701 to -6725. Under the I.C.S.”

State v. Thompson, 745 P.2d 1087 (Idaho Ct. App. 1988). · cites it 4× “IV The wiretap issue requires us to examine a statute the Idaho Communications Security Act, I.C. §§ 18-6701 6718 never before analyzed by the Idaho appellate courts.”

State v. Blair Olsen, 386 P.3d 908 (Idaho 2016). · cites it 4× “(4)(a) When any series of violations of section 18-6701, Idaho Code, comprised of separate incidents of misuse of public moneys in amounts less than three hundred dollars ($300) are part of a common scheme or plan, the incidents may be aggregated in one (1) count and the sum of…”

State v. Mullens, 650 S.E.2d 169 (W. Va. 2007). “(1993); Idaho Code § 18-6701 , et seq. (2004); Ill.”

Knudsen v. Agee, 918 P.2d 1221 (Idaho 1996). · cites it 2× “On July 5, 1994, Knudsen filed suit in district court charging MK, Agee, and Cook with violating the Idaho Communications Security Act (ICSA), I.C. § 18-6701, et seq. The respondents moved for summary judgment on the grounds that the three year statute of limitations contained…”

State v. Brown, 745 P.2d 1101 (Idaho Ct. App. 1987). · cites it 2× “A similar provision is contained in the Idaho electronic surveillance statutes, collectively known as the Communications Security Act and codified at I.C. §§ 18-6701 to -6725. The Idaho Act is derived directly from the federal statutory scheme.”

Chapman v. Nyk Line North Am., Inc., 207 P.3d 154 (Idaho 2009). · cites it 4× “Idaho's Communications Security Act, Idaho Code §§ 18-6701 to 6725, specifically declares it to be lawful for a person to record an oral conversation with the consent of one party to the conversation.”

Proj. Veritas v. Michael Schmidt, 72 F.4th 1043 (9th Cir. 2023). “1989) Idaho: Idaho Code Ann. §§ 18-6701 (2), 18-6702(1)(a), (2)(d) Illinois: 720 Ill.”

State v. Martin, 745 P.2d 1082 (Idaho Ct. App. 1987). · cites it 2× “Pat Martin was one of the persons whose conversations were intercepted. After Martin was indicted, he moved to suppress the wiretap evidence, contending that it had been obtained in violation of Idaho’s electronic surveillance statutes, I.”

Show all 13 citing cases →

— Idaho Code § 18-6701(1) — 1 case

Hoskins v. Howard, 971 P.2d 1135 (Idaho 1998). “Idaho Code § 18-6701 provides the following definitions: (1) “Wire Communication” means any communication made in whole or in part through the use of facilities for the transmission of communication by the aid of wire, cable, or other like connection between the point of origin…”

— Idaho Code § 18-6701(10) — 1 case

State v. Blair Olsen, 386 P.3d 908 (Idaho 2016). “(4)(a) When any series of violations of section 18-6701, Idaho Code, comprised of separate incidents of misuse of public moneys in amounts less than three hundred dollars ($300) are part of a common scheme or plan, the incidents may be aggregated in one (1) count and the sum of…”

— Idaho Code § 18-6701(2) — 1 case

State v. Wilkins, 868 P.2d 1231 (Idaho 1994). “” The need of the Ketchum Police to have a safe and secure police station outweighs any expectation of privacy the defendant could possibly maintain in this particular setting. Because there was no expectation of privacy in the booking room of the Ketchum Police Department, the…”

— Idaho Code § 18-6701(4)(a)(i) — 1 case

State v. Hensley, 187 P.3d 1227 (Idaho 2008). “I.C. §§ 18-6701 to -6725. Under the I.C.S.”

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