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Some states have specific laws that address the recording of telephone, online, or in-person conversations. There are various laws that an abuser may be breaking by electronically surveilling someone or by recording someone’s private conversation without their consent. But what he seeks to preserve as private, even in an area accessible to the public, may be constitutionally protected.”) 347 (1967) (noting that “what a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection. 1 For example, a person in certain public places such as in a football stadium or on a main street may not reasonably have an expectation of privacy, but a person in his/her bedroom or in a public restroom stall generally would.ġ See Katz v. Legally, a reasonable expectation of privacy exists when you are in a situation where an average person would expect to not be seen or spied on. When deciding which law(s) may apply to your situation, this may often depend on the circumstances of the surveillance and whether you had a “reasonable expectation of privacy” while the abuser recorded or observed you. The names of these laws vary across the country, but they often include wiretap, voyeurism, interception, and other recording laws. There are several criminal laws that address the act of listening in on a private conversation, electronically recording a person’s conversation, or videotaping a person’s activities. If the person is not part of the activity or conversation:

To learn more about the laws in your state, you can check the state-by-state guide of recording laws from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. However, if state Y requires that each person involved in the conversation know about and consent to the recording, Jane will have to first ask Bob if it is OK with him if she records their conversation in order for the recording to be legal. Other states require that all parties to the communication consent.įor example, if Jane calls Bob, Jane may legally be able to record the conversation without telling Bob under state X’s law, which allows one-party consent for recordings. Many states allow someone to record a phone call or conversation as long as one person (including the person doing the recording) consents to the recording. If the person is part of the activity or conversation: The differences between these two are explained more below. In most circumstances, what is generally referred to as “spying,” meaning someone who is not a part of your personal/private activities or conversations monitoring or records them without your knowledge, is usually illegal. It depends on whether the person doing the recording is part of the activity or conversation and, if so, if state law then allows that recording.

To learn more about spyware, visit the Safety Net’s Toolkit for Survivors or go to our Crimes page to see if there is a specific spyware law in your state. Spyware can allow the abusive person access to everything on the phone, as well as the ability to intercept and listen in on phone calls.

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It can also include the misuse of monitoring software (also known as spyware), which can be installed on a computer, tablet, or a smartphone to secretly monitor the device activity without the user’s knowledge.

The motive for using electronic surveillance may be to maintain power and control over you, to make it hard for you to have any privacy or a life separate from the abuser, and/or to try to discover (and stop) any plans you may be making to leave the abuser.Įlectronic surveillance can be done by misusing cameras, recorders, wiretaps, social media, or email. In a relationship where there is domestic violence or stalking, an abuser may use recording and surveillance technology to “keep tabs” on you (the victim) by monitoring your whereabouts and conversations. Electronic surveillance is a broad term used to describe when someone watches another person’s actions or monitors a person’s conversations without his/her knowledge or consent by using one or more electronic devices or platforms.

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