Telecommunications Act 2005, confidentiality and protection of customer personal information
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force since 27 July 2005.
A comprehensive regime rule binding private bodies.
As of 7 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not disclose information concerning a telecommunications customer without the customer's written consent, unless disclosure is required or permitted by the Regulator or by law.
- Take all reasonable steps to keep customer communications confidential, and do not intercept, monitor, alter, or modify their content except as the Act permits.
- Identify the purposes for which customer information is collected at or before collection, and do not collect, use, maintain, or disclose customer information for an undisclosed purpose without the customer's consent or legal authority.
- Do not divulge information overheard from a customer's telephone conversation, or a customer's personal particulars obtained in the course of duties, without good and sufficient cause.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Sections 75A and 75B each make it an offence, punishable on conviction by a fine not exceeding 50 penalty units (WST $5,000) or imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or both, for a service provider's employee to divulge, without good and sufficient cause, information overheard from a telephone conversation, or a customer's personal particulars obtained in the course of duties.
Penalty structure
Sections 75A(1) and 75B(1) each cap the fine at 50 penalty units, or impose imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or both. Samoa fixes the penalty unit at WST $100 under section 4 of the Fines (Review and Amendment) Act 1998, so the cap is WST $5,000.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 7 September 2026
- Currency
- WST
- Fixed cap
- 5,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Office of the Telecommunications Regulator
What it reaches
Obligation class
Consent, Disclosure, Security
Who checks it
Audit expectation
none
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Section 48 bars a telecommunications service provider from disclosing information concerning a customer without the customer's written consent, unless disclosure is required or permitted by the Regulator or by law, and gives the customer a right to inspect the provider's records concerning them.
Section 49 requires a service provider to take all reasonable steps to keep customer communications confidential and bars intercepting, monitoring, altering, or modifying their content except for tracing harassing or illegal calls or as otherwise permitted by the Act. Section 50 requires a service provider to operate its network with due regard for customer privacy and to identify the purposes for which customer information is collected at or before collection.
Except as permitted or required by law or with the customer's consent, a service provider must not collect, use, maintain, or disclose customer information for an undisclosed purpose. Sections 75A and 75B separately make it an offence for a service provider's employee, without good and sufficient cause, to divulge information overheard from a telephone conversation or to disclose or use a customer's affairs or personal particulars obtained in the course of duties.
When LexLint raises it
processes_voice
Read the law
Text of the Telecommunications Act 2005, Samoa Consolidated Legislation 2020, PacLII, archived copy