§ 15A-286. Definitions.
Article16.
Electronic Surveillance.
§ 15A‑286. Definitions.
As used in this Article,unless the context requires otherwise:
(1) "Aggrievedperson" means a person who was a party to any intercepted wire, oral, orelectronic communication or a person against whom the interception wasdirected.
(2) "AttorneyGeneral" means the Attorney General of the State of North Carolina, unlessotherwise specified.
(3) "Auraltransfer" means a transfer containing the human voice at any point betweenand including the point of origin and the point of reception.
(4) "Chapter 119 ofthe United States Code" means Chapter 119 of Part I of Title 18, UnitedStates Code, being Public Law 90‑351, the Omnibus Crime Control and SafeStreets Act of 1968, as amended by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of1986.
(5) "Communicationscommon carrier" shall have the same meaning which is given the term"common carrier" by section 153(h) of Title 47 of the United StatesCode.
(6) "Contents"when used with respect to any wire, oral, or electronic communication means andincludes any information concerning the substance, purport, or meaning of thatcommunication.
(7) "Electronic,mechanical, or other device" means any device or apparatus which can beused to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication other than:
a. Any telephone ortelegraph instrument, equipment, or facility, or any component thereof:
1. Furnished to thesubscriber or user by a provider of wire or electronic communication service inthe ordinary course of its business and being used by the subscriber or user inthe ordinary course of its business or furnished by the subscriber or user forconnection to the facilities of such service and used in the ordinary course ofits business; or
2. Being used by aprovider of wire or electronic communication service in the ordinary course ofits business or by an investigative or law enforcement officer in the ordinarycourse of the officer's duties.
b. A hearing aid orsimilar device being used to correct subnormal hearing to not better thannormal.
(8) "Electroniccommunication" means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images,sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part bya wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic, or photooptical system thataffects interstate or foreign commerce but does not include:
a. Any wire or oralcommunication;
b. Any communicationmade through a tone‑only paging device; or
c. Any communicationfrom a tracking device (as defined in section 3117 of Title 18 of the UnitedStates Code).
(9) "Electroniccommunication service" means any service which provides to users thereofthe ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications.
(10) "Electroniccommunication system" means any wire, radio, electronic, magnetic,photooptical, or photoelectronic facilities for the transmission of electroniccommunications, and any computer facilities or related electronic equipment forthe storage of such communications.
(11) "Electronicsurveillance" means the interception of wire, oral, or electroniccommunications as provided by this Article.
(12) "Electronicstorage" means:
a. Any temporary,intermediate storage of a wire or electronic communication incidental to theelectronic transmission thereof; and
b. Any storage of suchcommunication by an electronic communication service for the purposes of backupprotection of the communication.
(13) "Intercept"means the aural or other acquisition of the contents of any wire, oral, orelectronic communication through the use of any electronic, mechanical, orother device.
(14) "Investigativeor law enforcement officer" means any officer of the State of NorthCarolina or any political subdivision thereof, who is empowered by the laws ofthis State to conduct investigations of or to make arrests for offensesenumerated in G.S. 15A‑290, and any attorney authorized by the laws ofthis State to prosecute or participate in the prosecution of those offenses,including the Attorney General of North Carolina.
(15) "Judge"means any judge of the trial divisions of the General Court of Justice.
(16) "Judicial reviewpanel" means a three‑judge body, composed of such judges as may beassigned by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, whichshall review applications for electronic surveillance orders and may issueorders valid throughout the State authorizing such surveillance as provided bythis Article, and which shall submit a report of its decision to the ChiefJustice.
(17) "Oralcommunication" means any oral communication uttered by a person exhibitingan expectation that such communication is not subject to interception undercircumstances justifying such expectation, but the term does not include anyelectronic communication.
(18) "Person"means any employee or agent of the United States or any state or any politicalsubdivision thereof, and any individual, partnership, association, joint stockcompany, trust, or corporation.
(19) "Readilyaccessible to the general public" means, with respect to a radiocommunication, that the communication is not:
a. Scrambled orencrypted;
b. Transmitted usingmodulation techniques whose essential parameters have been withheld from thepublic with the intention of preserving the privacy of the communication;
c. Carried on asubcarrier or other signal subsidiary to a radio transmission;
d. Transmitted over acommunications system provided by a common carrier, unless the communication isa tone‑only paging system communication; or
e. Transmitted onfrequencies allocated under Part 25, Subpart D, E, or F or Part 94 of the Rulesof the Federal Communications Commission as provided by 18 U.S.C. §2510(16)(E).
(20) "User"means any person or entity who:
a. Uses an electroniccommunications service; and
b. Is duly authorizedby the provider of the service to engage in the use.
(21) "Wirecommunication" means any aural transfer made in whole or in part throughthe use of facilities for the transmission of communications by the aid ofwire, cable, or other like connection between the point of origin and the pointof reception (including the use of such connection in a switching station)furnished or operated by any person engaged in providing or operating suchfacilities for the transmission of interstate or foreign communications orcommunications affecting interstate or foreign commerce and the term includesany electronic storage of such communication. (1995, c. 407, s. 1; 1997‑435,s. 1.)