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That is an important point. The law varies across states. Some states are two-party consent states for audio, and some are single party. Courts seem to be all
by michaelfeathers 14y ago
That is an important point. The law varies across states. Some states are two-party consent states for audio, and some are single party. Courts seem to be allowing exceptions for recording where there is no anticipation of privacy but, if I remember correctly, stealth recording can tip back towards illegality in some places.
- darkarmani 14y agoConsent is usually for phone calls and amounts to notification (hang up if you don't consent). In public states like MA recording in public is mostly about awareness and not consent. If you have a giant camera recording things they won't succeed in prosecuting you for secretly taping audio.
- einhverfr 14y agoAttention officer: If you do not consent to be recorded, please don't stop me. Thank you and have a nice day ;-)
- darkarmani 14y agoWhich is why people are allowed to tape auto of officers with large video cameras -- the press for example.
- einhverfr 14y agoAgain, my suggestion of a bumper sticker. Given the realities of traffic stops, I think it is entirely to be expected that police will read bumper stickers when running plates etc. It gives fair notice. Every officer will read it. And one can verify at the beginning of the conversation.
- stcredzero 14y agoIf it doesn't already, the ACLU app should use GPS data to disable the soundtrack by jurisdiction.
- bigiain 14y agoMaybe just selectively encrypt the audio? Perhaps, if it'd work better legally, some system that encrypts the audio on the fly, with a public half of a keypair where the private key is held by an organisation who never gets the encrypted file, and who will only turn the key over to a lawyer or court? (It'd be nice to think you could set this up so the only way law enforcement can get it without the consent of the uploader would be to have the decryption key made public, so if the cops want it, _everybody_ gets to hear it) Where I am (Sydney, Australia), recording a police interaction is legal, but showing/playing it to other people may not be. You can't tender your recording as evidence in court without the consent of all the people in the recording, but you _can_ use the recording in court if it contradicts sworn evidence given by someone you've recorded.
- stcredzero 14y ago> Maybe just selectively encrypt the audio? The problem with that, is that you've still effectively recorded other people. That's okay in Australia, but not everywhere. Deliberately not recording has a strong legal basis just about everywhere, though. Think of the example of an active microphone hooked up to an analog tape recorder on "pause." In that case, the signal exists in hardware, and is in fact being amplified. There would be no violation of the law, however. Now think of the same setup with a digital recorder that is on pause. There may be a DSP chip that is processing the input signal, but there is effectively no "recording" going on.
- Alex3917 14y agoEither way, the penalties for illegally recording someone are a lot less than the penalties you'd get for the cops planting a kilo of heroin on you.