How Hidden Cameras and Spy Gadgets Can Get a Bubba in Trouble: Don’t Let the Bad Guys Win*

By Bubba | February 12, 2010 at 11:49 am | 14 comments | General Tips | Tags: hidden cameras, home surveillance, nannycams, privacy rights, spy cameras, spy gadgets, workplace security, workplace surveillance

In Your Business, Office, or Workplace

So you got your hidden cameras, and you put them around your warehouse up at work. You’ve captured one of your employees taking some expensive tools and taking them into the restroom and hiding them in his clothes so he can smuggle them out. You’ve even got some audio recordings of him bragging about this to other employees in the break room.  Your evidence is so solid that you consider putting it up on YouTube so you can shame the guy right before you fire him.

Is this a slam dunk for you? Have you finally gotten one up on the kind of idiot that we’d all like to bust and get even with?

In a word, no.  And if you do fire this scumbag and he or she is brazen enough to fight back or has an attorney or civil rights group take up his case, you could find your-own-bad self in real trouble.

What you’ve done seems logical and for the most part understandable if almost reasonable. But depending on where you live, you may have broken some state laws and you are certainly in the gray area of federal law. While this is not meant to be understood as a legal opinion, here are some of the obvious, common sense problems with this situation.

You did not post any signs or inform your employees that they were being observed. This is not always legally necessary, but it doesn’t hurt if you have informed them that they are under surveillance. Actually, this is good on a couple levels. 1.)  This is a little proactive step.  It might actually prevent the headache and high cost of future problems by letting your employees know that you take security in the workplace seriously.  2.) This might offer you some protection if someone later complains that you were surreptitiously violating their privacy.  3.) While there may be a little discomfort at first that you don’t totally “trust” your employees, it is not half as bad if suddenly they find out later that you have been watching them covertly for months.  That’s when morale can really plummet.

If you put a camera in the bathroom because you suspected him or her smuggling out stolen goods, you HAVE violated their privacy.  Most courts are going to recognize that there are still places and situations that people DO have a total right to privacy. The restroom is certainly one of those places. Hanging cameras in restrooms is not only going to be seen as a breach of privacy, but with very little effort, a decent attorney is going to portray you as a pervert for doing so.

Audio recordings are very risky from a legal standpoint. Federal wiretapping laws, eavesdropping statutes, unauthorized use of telephone/telegraph equipment….any one of a number of laws cold be brought to trouble you if you are planting microphones.  Wireless mics add the additional liability of illegally intercepting radio transmissions. Where you might get away with a hidden camera in one situation, simply adding audio to the video might create a violation. Again, these laws vary from state to state – it gets really strange.

But even without firing the suspect or pressing charges, how about shaming this crook by putting his video on the internet?  Then you open yourself up to all kinds of civil liability. We’ve already established that you have collected evidence (probably illegally) … now you will be damaging a person’s reputation by labeling him a criminal and putting this out on the internet – while at the same time proving that you did so illicitly.  You bet there’s a lawyer somewhere willing to try and hassle you into a payday for himself by taking up this idiot’s case.

But it’s YOUR workplace… you either own or manage this place, right?  You can do what you want, right?  If you operate with a little common sense, sure.  But as you well know, when dealing with employees things can get tricky.  Make sure that your  employees understand that this is a safety issue, and that their well being is your priority. With any appropriate job interview process, you will hire good employees that you are not going to have to worry about. Be very careful about who you entrust with details of your security systems, procedures, and camera placement.  Turning some of the responsibility of handling this task to some “trusted” manager who has a secret mean streak, or a warped sense of humor will really get you in trouble. It will also create distrust in the workplace if you are known to operate like “Big Brother”.

In the home:

If your own business is such legal minefield, surely you can completely monitor your own home with whatever technology you want, correct?  You DO have a LOT more leeway in your own home and car.  But you’re still not completely off the hook.  Again, if you hire a nanny or babysitter, or have other domestic help around your home, they still have the right to have a little privacy, (again, think ‘bathroom’).

Once again, almost any audio recordings are going to get you in trouble. It’s not hard to find phone monitoring equipment; you may still open yourself up to trouble if you use it. Remember that in some states it is permissible to record a conversation if one of the parties has consented, don’t forget to check with your attorney.

While monitoring your babysitter with a so-called nannycam is absolutely justified in today’s world, once again you can create a LOT of mistrust and ill will if your employee finds out that you are “spying” on her. We heard of one cute trick where a pretty smart bubba informed all of his household help that for their safety he would sometimes monitor them on a camera. He then put up a big, dummy camera in the den or someplace with low traffic, and then hid several real spy cameras to monitor any potential trouble spots.  This works for spying on the teens and kids as well.

The last major use of an internal camera is of course for spouse cheating purposes. I’m not even gonna get started on this one.  You’re on your own. We don’t even want to hear about it here at Bubba’s place.  Just come by sometime after it’s all over and we’ll buy you a beer!

How to protect yourself:

• Talk to a local attorney that is familiar with your federal, state, and local laws as related to surveillance.
• If you are going to monitor your workplace, check with your HR specialist to see if they have any insight into what may or not be appropriate for your business, and with your employees and contract laws.
• Get some liability insurance. Maybe some employment practices insurance. Your agent can double check you here.
• Triple check anyone that you entrust with your security systems, or knowledge of how and where your system operates.
• Don’t be stupid or try to be funny.

We want you to bag some crooks, not become one.

*Official Disclaimer:  We are bubbas, not lawyers. We’re trying to give you a common sense warning about the risk you might be exposing your own-self to by using commonly available spy gadgets like hidden cameras, GPS trackers, computer loggers, and audio monitors.  We cannot give you legal advice.  We are encouraging you to consult a LOCAL attorney that has a specialty in employment law and knows your local, state, and federal regulations concerning surveillance equipment and for some of the gear and techniques that you wish to use. Qualified (and trusted) insurance agents and human resource managers are also good sources for up to date information regarding your liability with self installed security systems and devices.