The legality of recording by civilians refers to laws regarding the recording of other persons and property by

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...

s through the means of still photography,

videography Videography is the process of capturing moving images on electronic media (e.g., videotape, direct to disk recording, or solid state storage) and even streaming media. The term includes methods of video production and post-production. It used ...

, and

audio recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording t ...

in various locations. Although it is common for the recording of public property, persons within the public domain, and of private property visible or audible from the public domain to be legal, laws have been passed restricting such activity in order to protect the privacy of others, often at the expense of those who seek to invade others' privacy. The laws governing still photography may be vastly different from the laws governing any type of

motion picture photography A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

. In the United States, anti-photography laws have been passed following the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

and the increased popularity of

camera phone A camera phone is a mobile phone which is able to capture photographs and often record video using one or more built-in digital cameras. It can also send the resulting image wirelessly and conveniently. The first commercial phone with color ca ...

s. There might be local laws and policies governing the specific landmark or property in which one seeks to photograph. Laws on private property differ. Owners of private property in most places must authorize recording on their own property.

Exceptions

High-profile locations

Signs posted around many bridges, including the

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge ( ) is a suspension bridge connecting the New York City boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn. It spans the Narrows, a body of water linking the relatively enclosed New York Harbor with Lower New York Bay and t ...

, state that filming the structure is prohibited. The legality of such restrictions is problematic; in view of the First Amendment in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, restrictions on taking pictures of a public structure in public may be unconstitutional, (in view of the fact that prohibiting taking pictures will probably neither prevent nor reduce the potential for terrorist acts, nor do such prohibitions necessarily mean it will in any way hinder someone from committing an attack in the first place.) The courts have held, however, that in some cases, restrictions on taking pictures on military reservations such as military bases, can be constitutionally valid, so a restriction on taking a picture of a structure that is operated by the military or is on a military reservation might be constitutional, but even then, such restrictions must be reasonable and have some relevant purpose. In August 2004, an

Annandale, Virginia Annandale () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia.Chesapeake Bay Bridge The Chesapeake Bay Bridge (also known locally as the Bay Bridge) is a major dual-span bridge in the U.S. state of Maryland. Spanning the Chesapeake Bay, it connects the state's rural Eastern Shore region with the urban Western Shore, between ...

as he drove across. He was held as a

material witness In American criminal law, a material witness is a person with information alleged to be material concerning a criminal proceeding. The authority to detain material witnesses dates to the First Judiciary Act of 1789, but the Bail Reform Act of ...

after he was found to have ties to

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni- Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qas ...

Voyeurism

Many places have passed or considered legislation that prohibits voyeurism with phones and other similar devices, commonly referred to as "

upskirt Upskirting or upskirt photography is the practice of taking nonconsensual photographs under a person's skirt or kilt, capturing an image of the crotch area, underwear, and sometimes genitalia. An "upskirt" is a photograph, video, or illustrati ...

ing" or " downblousing." Such behaviors have become common since camera phones have become popular, thereby raising such concerns. On March 7th, 2014, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court hearing ruled that taking photos of someone up their skirt was not specifically prevented by peeping tom laws. The Massachusetts Supreme Court Judges concluded that since the current laws didn't make any distinction for clothed individuals, only for 'partially or completely' undressed ones, it was legal under current Massachusetts law. The very next day, legislation was introduced to ban

ing in its entirety. It soon received bipartisan support and was approved and enacted on March 8th, 2014.

Public display

Laws prohibiting the photography of civilians for public display have prevented the creation of recordings for

Google Street View Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides interactive panoramas from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched in 2007 in several cities in the United States, and has since expan ...

in some countries in Europe.

Voice recording

Laws differ in the United States on how many parties must give their consent before a conversation may be recorded. In 38 states and the District of Columbia, conversations may be recorded if the person is party to the conversation, or if at least one of the people who are party to the conversation have given a third party consent to record the conversation. As of 2010, in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington State, the consent of all parties of the conversation must be obtained in order to record a conversation. In Canada, telephone calls may be recorded without a court order if one of the parties to the call consents to the recording. It is to a judge's discretion as to whether or not to admit the recording into evidence if both parties are not aware of the conversation having been recorded.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legality Of Recording By Civilians Privacy law Terrorism laws