Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law. For information concerning the relationship between statutes and Public Acts, refer to the Guide.

Because the statute database is maintained primarily for legislative drafting purposes, statutory changes are sometimes included in the statute database before they take effect. If the source note at the end of a Section of the statutes includes a Public Act that has not yet taken effect, the version of the law that is currently in effect may have already been removed from the database and you should refer to that Public Act to see the changes made to the current law.

720 ILCS 5/26-4.5

    (720 ILCS 5/26-4.5)
    Sec. 26-4.5. Consumer communications privacy.

(a) For purposes of this Section, "communications company" means any
person or organization which owns, controls, operates or manages any company
which provides information or entertainment electronically to a household,
including but not limited to a cable or community antenna television system.

(b) It shall be unlawful for a communications company to:
(1) install and use any equipment which would allow a

communications company to visually observe or listen to what is occurring in an individual subscriber's household without the knowledge or permission of the subscriber;

(2) provide any person or public or private

organization with a list containing the name of a subscriber, unless the communications company gives notice thereof to the subscriber;

(3) disclose the television viewing habits of any

individual subscriber without the subscriber's consent; or

(4) install or maintain a home-protection scanning

device in a dwelling as part of a communication service without the express written consent of the occupant.

(c) Sentence. A violation of this Section is a business offense,
punishable by a fine not to exceed $10,000 for each violation.

(d) Civil liability. Any person who has been injured by a violation of this Section may commence
an action in the circuit court for damages against any communications company
which has committed a violation.  If the court awards damages, the plaintiff
shall be awarded costs.

(Source: P.A. 97-1108, eff. 1-1-13.)