Legal-issues,better cautious than being found guiltyHome > Community Safety > Legal Issues Home Surveillance and Security Click on Course Invitation. (Sponsored Links) In particular recording a private conversation is generally considered eavesdropping or wiretapping, which is forbidden, especially if the person being recorded was expecting privacy. Even if the person recording took part in the conversation, it may be legal or not depending on local laws and other circumstances. Sometimes, to comply with Legal-issues, verbal warnings are heard in recordings prior to customer service calls to businesses, saying that this call may be recorded for administrative purposes. Otherwise, when the meeting is personal, clear written signs may be posted to this effect. Therefore, it is always wise to ask a professional lawyer or law enforcement authorities on the legal situation in the particular place. The case for audio recording was already addressed in the page on Camera Audio with the warning that it may be considered illegal, at least in some places. Public Video Surveillance Constitutional law protects the home and other private spaces. Generally, video cameras left unchanged the Legal-issues concerning the anonymous aspect of unidentified persons strolling along public streets. In recent years, however, technological advances and social pressures to provide improved security from violence, have introduced new and more aggressive forms of public video surveillance. As a consequence, the Legal-issues may have changed, as the existing delicate balance between law enforcement needs and constitutional rights and values risks to be upset. In many countries modern public video surveillance systems, covering vast portions of public space, consist of networks of cameras linked to monitors and recorders being supervised by security officials. These systems can be equipped with new technological advancements like high resolution and magnification, motion detection, infrared vision, and biometric identification. The integrated hardware and software can be part of powerful networks capable of automated tracking, archiving, and identifying not only suspect behavior but also innocent behavior of law abiding citizens. The Legal-issues of implementation of such measures have not yet been covered satisfactorily. As a consequence of anti terrorist efforts, laws were introduced to simplify policing procedures, to assure timely police preemptive actions. However it is recognized that "the value of modern video surveillance must be balanced with the need to protect our core constitutional rights and values, including privacy and anonymity, free speech and association, government accountability, and equal protection." There is wide consent that "new technologies may help protect the public, but they also enable authorities to more deeply intrude upon these rights", with undeniable impact on Legal-issues. In part to answer the concerns of Human Rights associations official initiatives were promoted in the US to try to define the limits of new legislation. See on this subject the publication Is Private Video Surveillance Legal? As video surveillance becomes more sophisticated and discrete, the chance of abuse taking place becomes more and more likely. For surveillance in general, it is reported that the courts have ruled in favor of the right to use surveillance when it is obvious that any person standing in the place of the surveillance camera could have seen the same view easily and freely. Nobody has the right to expect privacy in public places, and video surveillance in such places does not constitute an invasion of privacy. On the contrary, where there is expectation of privacy like in bedrooms, bathrooms, or locker rooms, video surveillance is considered invasion of privacy which is a crime. In short, lawful use depends entirely on what one is doing with it and in what area. When setting up a surveillance system and in doubt, the Legal-issues should be explored, and it is certainly better to be cautious. By monitoring only places that are accessible to the public one will not run into any legal problems, hopefully. Surveillance in the Work Place Although principals may have very good reasons to check on how employees use their time and facilities at work, while the employees may resent being under constant investigation, the questions arising are not so much of Legal-issues as related to ethical principles and working relationship. It seems that the best approach should be one of openness and frankness. The means of checking on employees behavior should be visible and known, and Management should publish its policy as to what it expects and considers acceptable. Employees should acknowledge that they are not free to spend their time in useless chats or in private affairs, and therefore they should tolerate some form of unobtrusive control. Software is available permitting to management to check the computer activity of employees for conformance with company rules of proper conduct. Computers are ideally suited to provide easily and continuously reports on legitimate or unacceptable activities. However this kind of control may be interpreted by employees as an invasion of their privacy. Ideally the software should be able to discriminate between real work, conducted to promote the firm's interests, and private affairs, even without disclosing the nature of those deeds. Depending on the personalities types, a common ground of agreement should be found and pursued in an atmosphere of reciprocal trust before resolving Legal-issues in court. Although considered intrusive, methods such as eavesdropping on phone calls, recording the phone calls or even video recording are still being used in all types of businesses. Workplace surveillance can be used to stop theft. Employees should understand the need of management to hinder actions causing tangible loss. However employers should be alert to employees sensitivity to negative aspects involving privacy. A popular form of workplace surveillance is done through computer surveillance. When users operate a computer on the Internet, a record of the sites that were visited and the operations that were performed by the user can be generated by Internet surveillance software also known as spyware. Desktop surveillance intercepts signals given off by the employee’s computer. In both cases the employer gains information of employees activities. E-mail traffic sent to and from employees can be intercepted. Dispute, when arising, is on inappropriate or non-job-related use of email by an employee. As with the telephone, many employers formally or informally permit some amount of personal email. However, inordinate or inappropriate use of a work-related email account cannot generally be tolerated by any employer. On Legal-issues and other arguments a list of References was published in Issue No. 015, of Surveillance Guide News Issue for December 2008, available at SGN#015. RESOURCES
For any questions write us by e-mail using the Contact Us Form.
Visit our New Current Issue of Surveillance Guide News with useful Links to Valuable Information. You are invited to subscribe at no cost to our periodic new Surveillance Guide News where you will find information on subjects related to Home Surveillance and Security. As a token of appreciation for letting us include your name in our mailing list, with our full guarantee of secrecy, we would like to offer you to download right to your computer our book on It is a collection of Articles on various subjects related toHome Surveillance and Security, the main theme of our Website. To reach the form, click on the subscription page, or on the last button of the NavBar at top left of every page. Home Security Recovering Stolen Goods  POWERED BY:
Click on this Logo NOW! Copyright © 2009, 2010 by |
