Am I breaking the law?

I leave my v2 permanently attached to a metal object in the corner of my living room. As it is recording video with sound on my mini-SD card 24/7 am I required to inform visitors to my home that they are being recorded. The camera is visible if you happen to notice it, otherwise it is just sits there rather unobtrusively. Also there is the possibility that someone could complain that they were being recorded without permission. This could be problematic if there was a private conversation taking place while I wasn’t in the room. I would appreciate hearing an opinion about this.

I’m no lawyer, but I suspect the answer depends on where (state) you are.

If in Russia, you’d be sent to the Gulag :grin:

1 Like

The answer would depend on what state you are in and possibly if you own or rent

1 Like

Hey Jerry,

While we can’t provide you with legal advice; we do recommend checking with your local and state legislature regarding the issue.

Best,

Kenner

There are two types of consent that apply to audio recordings. Single-Party Consent and Double-Party Consent. If you live in a double-party consent state, you need their consent before you can record their conversations. Most states don’t require consent for video recording in areas that wouldn’t be considered private.

I live in a Double-Party Consent state so I have the audio recording turned off on my cameras. I also have a sign near my front door stating that we have video recording on the premises. I don’t have any cameras within bedrooms or near bathrooms.

If you’re really concerned, you should contact either a property liability lawyer or a personal rights lawyer. Though, I suspect each of those will give you different advice.

1 Like

One thing about consent laws – they always require you to be part of the conversation. If you leave the room, you are not part of the conversation. Maybe there is an exception because it is your house, but I’d definitely check with a lawyer.

I have my audio recording turned off so there are no recordings of me yelling at my computer or TV, lol. But even with recording off you are basically bugging a room with the live stream. That really could open a can of worms, as you can’t turn that off. You have to remove the microphone.

Let us know what a local lawyer tells you.

Illegal to record people in your living room without consent - I doubt it in the majority of cases. Private premises is a bit different from a phone call, the general expectation of privacy in someone else’s living room isn’t very high (I’d avoid putting them in the bathroom though). However be careful about the things that end up on the video. In some US states it’s illegal to take “sexual” video/pictures of someone without their consent, so if you leave and someone takes their shirt off to change it or something that could be a concern. Or a worst case scenario would be if you have an underage child who thinks they are home alone and gets frisky (either alone or with a date) in the living room. You don’t want an SD card with a copy of that in your possession.

But like everyone else in this thread, I am not even close to a lawyer. If you get dragged into court over something you won’t get let off because “the internet said I didn’t do anything wrong”. Weight the cost/risk benefit of asking a real lawyer and act accordingly. Informing people they are on camera though is probably something a lawyer would thank you for if you ever had issues over the recording.

2 Likes