Civil action - Definitions
N.D. Cent. Code § 32-49-02
in effect32-49-02. Civil action - Definitions
1. As used in this section:
a. "Harm" includes physical harm, economic harm, and emotional distress whether
or not accompanied by physical or economic harm.
b. "Private" means:
(1) Created or obtained under circumstances in which a depicted individual had
a reasonable expectation of privacy; or
(2) Made accessible through theft of property, bribery, coercion, sexual
extortion, fraud, false pretenses, voyeurism, or exceeding authorized access
to an account, message, file, device, resource, or property.
2. Except as otherwise provided under section 32-49-03, a depicted individual who is
identifiable and who suffers harm from a person's intentional disclosure or threatened
disclosure of an intimate image that was private without the depicted individual's
consent has a cause of action against the person if the person knew or acted with
reckless disregard for whether the:
a. Depicted individual did not consent to the disclosure;
b. Intimate image was private; and
c. Depicted individual was identifiable.
3. The following conduct by a depicted individual does not establish by itself that the
individual consented to the disclosure of the intimate image which is the subject of an
action under this chapter or the individual lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy:
a. Consent to creation of the image; or
b. Previous consensual disclosure of the image.
4. A depicted individual who does not consent to the sexual conduct or uncovering of the
part of the body depicted in an intimate image of the individual retains a reasonable
expectation of privacy even if the image was created when the individual was in a
public place.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t32c49.pdf#nameddest=32-49-02Fetched: 10/16/2026