Delaware employee monitoring law: the notice rule for email, phone and internet monitoring

Delaware has required employers since 2001 to tell employees before monitoring their email, phone calls or internet use. The rule is section 705 of Title 19 of the Delaware Code (19 Del. C. 705). It is short, it applies to public as well as private employers, and it matters more now that monitoring software and AI tools can read, log and score what employees do on work systems. This page explains what the current text says and how it got there.

The short answer: a Delaware employer may not monitor or intercept an employee's telephone conversations or transmissions, email or transmissions, or internet access or usage unless it either shows an electronic notice each day the employee uses the employer's email or internet services, or has first given a one-time notice that the employee acknowledged in writing or electronically. A violation carries a civil penalty of $100 each. The law requires notice, not consent, and it does not ban monitoring (19 Del. C. 705(b), (c)).

Who is covered

• Employers: any individual, corporation, partnership, firm or association with a place of business in Delaware, and the State of Delaware or any agency or political subdivision of it (705(a)). Unlike New York's notice law, public employers are included.
• Employees: the rule protects a Delaware employee. The ban also binds any agent or representative of the employer (705(b)).

What counts as monitoring

The section covers monitoring or otherwise intercepting three things: any telephone conversation or transmission, electronic mail or transmission, and internet access or usage of or by the employee (705(b)). It does not mention cameras, location tracking or keystroke and screen capture as such. Our reading, not a court ruling: software that records email, calls or web use is covered whatever it is called, while monitoring of other activity may fall outside this section and need checking against other laws.

The two ways to give notice

• Daily electronic notice: an electronic notice of the monitoring or intercepting policies or activities, given at least once during each day the employee accesses the employer-provided email or internet access services (705(b)(1)). In practice this is often a log-in banner.
• One-time acknowledged notice: a notice of the monitoring activity or policies given before monitoring starts, in writing, in an electronic record or in another electronic form, and acknowledged by the employee in writing or electronically (705(b)(2)).

The section does not say what the notice must contain beyond describing the monitoring or intercepting policies or activities.

Exceptions

• Court-ordered law enforcement: the notice rule does not apply to a law enforcement officer acting under a court order issued under Chapter 24 of Title 11 (705(b)).
• System maintenance: the section does not apply to processes that manage the type or volume of incoming or outgoing email, voice mail or internet usage, that are not targeted at a particular individual, and that are performed solely for computer system maintenance or protection; our reading is that general spam and virus filters fit here (705(e)).

Penalty and other remedies

Whoever violates the section faces a civil penalty of $100 for each violation, and a claim may be filed in any court of competent jurisdiction (705(c)). The section is not an exclusive remedy, so other state or federal law or the common law may still apply. It also says a violation by the employer may not be admitted into evidence for the purpose of, or used as, a defense to criminal liability of any person (705(d)).

How the law got here

The section was added by chapter 148 of volume 73 of the Laws of Delaware, approved on 10 July 2001 and effective 30 days after enactment. That first version required a one-time notice in writing and signed by the employee, and covered all employers without the Delaware place-of-business limit (73 Del. Laws c. 148). A year later chapter 403, approved on 9 July 2002, limited the definition to employers with a place of business in Delaware, limited protection to Delaware employees, and added the daily electronic notice option and electronic acknowledgment (73 Del. Laws c. 403).

Amendments: the history note for section 705 lists only 73 Del. Laws c. 148 (2001) and 73 Del. Laws c. 403 (2002) (19 Del. C. 705, history note). The online Delaware Code already carries session laws of the 2025-2026 General Assembly in the same subchapter (85 Del. Laws c. 450 on section 708), and section 705 shows no later change, so we found no amendment from the 2026 session. We will recheck after the 2027 session.

What this means in practice

• Employers: before monitoring email, calls or web use, including through AI tools that analyse them, get a signed or electronically acknowledged notice from each employee, or show a notice at log-in every day. Keep the acknowledgments, and update the notice when the monitoring changes.
• Workers: the law gives you a right to be told, not a right to refuse. If you were monitored without notice, the penalty is a civil claim of $100 per violation, and other remedies may also apply.

For New York's and Connecticut's notice laws side by side with Delaware's, see US employee monitoring laws, and for each state alone, New York employee monitoring law and Connecticut employee monitoring law. For tracking devices in vehicles, see New Jersey vehicle tracking notice, and for what monitoring tools now do, see AI monitoring at work.

This page covers Delaware and is general information based on the Delaware Code and session laws published by the State of Delaware when checked on 5 November 2026, not legal advice. Check for later amendments and court decisions before relying on it.