If You’re Considering In-home Surveillance – Read This!

In-home surveillance or spy cameras can be useful in many circumstances.  Cameras can be used while your home is being cleaned, for home-sitter services, for security reasons and to monitor care providers for your children.  Sales indicate that a vast majority of small spy cameras are bought by parents looking for peace of mind and confidence in the child care being provided for their children – with an increase of 25% over the past five years!

Is It Legal To Use a Surveillance Camera In Your Home?

Of course, every country has their own privacy and surveillance laws.  Make sure you check your local laws regarding surveillance and hidden cameras before doing any recording.  Here we’ll look at both the United States and Canada.

In Canada, there are different laws applying to recording conversation and recording images.  An individual (as opposed to a business) can record conversations with the consent of one party to a conversation. If you are taking part in the conversation yourself, the consent can come from you.  In regards to recorded video – Canada has passed a video voyeurism law, making it a crime to covertly observe or record a person who has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the circumstances.  You can’t legally place cameras in bathrooms or locker rooms. You can’t legally set up a camera to record in your roommate’s bedroom.

In addition to federal laws in Canada, each specific province may have privacy, surveillance and/or voyeurism laws which should be reviewed as well.

In the United States, it is legal in all 50 states to use a hidden camera but it is illegal to record speech without a person’s consent in the following 15 states:  California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

Installed Cameras May Leave Home Exposed to Outside Observation!

You’ve installed a video camera, intending to increase the security of your home and the safety of your loved ones.  What you may have done instead is unknowingly opened a ‘window’ to the activities going on in front of those cameras to anyone with a cheap receiver!  If you own a truly wireless video security camera, Eyewitness News Consumer Alert reveals that  wireless surveillance cameras may broadcast your private home video beyond the perimeter of your house! These signals can be legally intercepted by unscrupulous individuals using readily available, inexpensive electronic devices – with some signals being able to be received from as far as a quarter-mile away!

The obvious vulnerability of wireless products has been known for decades. The radio spectrum is crowded, and broadcast is subject simply to receiving it.  A subculture has grown surrounding inexpensive scanning equipment that can pick up signals from cordless and cellular phones, video cameras and other wireless devices – one wonders what motives, other than the obviously devious – having this equipment would be.

There are wireless cameras that do not broadcast video signals – make sure you know what you’re allowing others to see.

What Price Range Will I Be Looking at For a Surveillance Camera?

Prices can vary greatly depending on your need and your expected overall usage.  Cost comparison is easily obtainable via internet stores such as Absolute Automation Inc.  which allow you to browse without the pressure of commissioned sales staff  – and often have a direct link to product specialists if you have any questions!