Privacy Law Library

Distributing or creating a private image (nonconsensual intimate images, including AI-generated)

AL Private Image Law

Other · Artificial intelligence

Criminalizes distributing a sexually explicit image of an identifiable person without their written consent, and (since 2024) creating, recording, or altering such an image without consent, when the person had a reasonable expectation of privacy. The definition expressly reaches altered and AI-generated images that a reasonable person would believe depict a real, identifiable individual.

Where
Alabama
Citation
Ala. Code § 13A-6-240; civil liability Ala. Code § 6-5-840 (Act 2017-414; amended Acts 2023-464, 2024-96, 2024-97, 2024-98)
Status
In force
Last amended
2024-10-01
Enforced by
District attorneys (criminal prosecution); Alabama Attorney General (emergency injunctions); depicted individuals (civil suits)
People can sue
Yes
Penalties
Class A misdemeanor; a later conviction is a Class C felony. The Attorney General may seek an emergency injunction and require production of written consent. A person who commits the distribution crime is civilly liable to the individual depicted (Ala. Code § 6-5-840).
Applies to
  • Any person who knowingly distributes, or creates, records, or alters, a sexually explicit image of an identifiable individual without consent where the individual had a reasonable expectation of privacy
  • Covers edited, manipulated, and artificially generated images a reasonable person would believe depict the individual
  • ISPs, search engines, cloud providers, and technology developers are not liable solely for providing access or technology

Rights it gives people

  • The depicted individual may hold a person who committed the distribution crime civilly liable.Ala. Code § 6-5-840(a)(1) · From 2024-10-01

Practices it requires

  • Do not post, email, text, or otherwise distribute a private sexually explicit image of an identifiable person without the person's written consent.Ala. Code § 13A-6-240(a)(1) · Only if: Depicted person had a reasonable expectation of privacy
  • Do not create, record, or alter a private sexually explicit image of an identifiable person without consent, including manipulated or artificially generated depictions.Ala. Code § 13A-6-240(a)(2), (b)(2) · From 2024-10-01

Sources

Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.

Unverified: Original effective date of Act 2017-414 not confirmed; left null. The 2024 amendments (Acts 2024-96, -97, -98) are effective October 1, 2024 per ALISON bill records. | Remedies available under § 6-5-840 beyond civil liability (damages measure) were not reviewed.

Research reference, not legal advice.