Wiretap Act, interception, disclosure and use prohibited (18 U.S.C. 2511(1)(a), (c), (d))
The Wiretap Act bars intercepting email or chat and also disclosing or using contents that were obtained by an unlawful interception. Licensing an archive that is already stored is normally analysed under the Stored Communications Act instead (courts have generally read "intercept" as capture in transit), but the disclose and use prongs follow the data: anything in the corpus that was captured unlawfully (for example from a personal account) cannot lawfully be passed to an AI licensee.
Dated 17 Oct 2026Source checked 17 Oct 2026Basis: primary text
In the source's own words
“(1) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter any person who ... (a) intentionally intercepts, endeavors to intercept, or procures any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept, any wire, oral, or electronic communication; ... (c) intentionally discloses, or endeavors to disclose, to any other person the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic communication, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of a wire, oral, or electronic communication in violation of this subsection; (d) intentionally uses, or endeavors to use, the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic communication, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of a wire, oral, or electronic communication in violation of this subsection; ... shall be punished as provided in subsection (4) or shall be subject to suit as provided in subsection (5).”
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