• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Being recorded -- is it totally legal?

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

Status
Not open for further replies.

lexiedavid99

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

Ny fiance had security cameras in his house. I asked him eventually if he wouold please shut them off at least while we were in the house. He said yes.

Recently I noticed they were running. He told me he didn't know what happened, but during an argument he said he had plenty of video to put out on social media to expose my anger and fights, too.

He never has hit me but he says God awful things. but this threat woke me up.

Is that legal? Can he record me in the house while I'm home and doing whatever? I asked for access and he said "why cause you want to frame me...no you are up to no good"

It concerns me he won't give me access...

And now - after this argument...he is currently deleting everything - I think I scared him. But hoenstly I was thinking of talking to police. I can't believe he is threatening me. And he wont' even confirm what he said on the pone -- in text. He says "not playing your game...you are trying to frame me..." in the texts...
 


LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

Ny fiance had security cameras in his house. I asked him eventually if he wouold please shut them off at least while we were in the house. He said yes.

Recently I noticed they were running. He told me he didn't know what happened, but during an argument he said he had plenty of video to put out on social media to expose my anger and fights, too.

He never has hit me but he says God awful things. but this threat woke me up.

Is that legal? Can he record me in the house while I'm home and doing whatever? I asked for access and he said "why cause you want to frame me...no you are up to no good"

It concerns me he won't give me access...

And now - after this argument...he is currently deleting everything - I think I scared him. But hoenstly I was thinking of talking to police. I can't believe he is threatening me. And he wont' even confirm what he said on the pone -- in text. He says "not playing your game...you are trying to frame me..." in the texts...
If you live with him its time to move out. Whether you live with him or not its time to break up. Anybody who thinks they need security cameras INSIDE their house is not someone you need to be with.
 

Taxing Matters

Overtaxed Member
Anybody who thinks they need security cameras INSIDE their house is not someone you need to be with.
I disagree with that as stated. There is nothing inherently wrong with security cameras inside the home. They can be very useful in providing evidence to identify and prosecute burglars or other criminals that enter the home while you are away.

What is disturbing to me is the attitude of the fiancé about it and the possibility that he is recording her without consent and then threatening to use that against her. That is a warning of conflicts to come. This sort of thing won’t get better after marriage. In general, behavior that is a problem before marriage is not improved any by saying “I do” and can get worse. After all, people tend to be on better behavior before the marriage when the other person can easily just walk out of the relationship than after marriage when it becomes more difficult.
 

lexiedavid99

Junior Member
He was upset that I was on a phone call and he said he was listening to it and had information about what i was saying. Which he took totally out of context. But I told him I did't like being recorded and spied on and I didn't think that it was legal.

Is it?
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
He was upset that I was on a phone call and he said he was listening to it and had information about what i was saying. Which he took totally out of context. But I told him I did't like being recorded and spied on and I didn't think that it was legal.

Is it?
Its illegal to record someone where they have an expectation of privacy. If its not also your home, then you might not have an expectation of privacy except in the bathroom, and perhaps the bedroom.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
I disagree with that as stated. There is nothing inherently wrong with security cameras inside the home. They can be very useful in providing evidence to identify and prosecute burglars or other criminals that enter the home while you are away.

What is disturbing to me is the attitude of the fiancé about it and the possibility that he is recording her without consent and then threatening to use that against her. That is a warning of conflicts to come. This sort of thing won’t get better after marriage. In general, behavior that is a problem before marriage is not improved any by saying “I do” and can get worse. After all, people tend to be on better behavior before the marriage when the other person can easily just walk out of the relationship than after marriage when it becomes more difficult.
Its fine if your personal opinion is different than mine. However, to me, having cameras inside the home is creepy.
 

lexiedavid99

Junior Member
Yes I live there. And I have asked him to shut this off. At least while we are home. He told me they don't record. They just run and take blips. But last night he told me he was going through the footage and heard my call. He got angry because I turned the camera to the wall -- and said that MADE HIM suspicious. I said NO. I told you i don' twant to be recorded.

He also tried to tell me he could hear the calls I had with my therapist on the back porch -- but I think that was a lie. He just says that to try to intimidate me.

Again, it all depends on whether or not you live there and therefore have an expectation of privacy.
 

Taxing Matters

Overtaxed Member
Its fine if your personal opinion is different than mine. However, to me, having cameras inside the home is creepy.
We see it quite differently then. The mere fact that cameras are in the home for security to me is not creepy at all. What matters to me is how the system is used, not that it is there. Most technology is neither inherently good or bad. It is the way it is used that matters. Anyone who has a modern smart phone in their home has a video recording device in the home, after all, and capable of recording what goes on there if the owner wishes. Most people do not look at it that way, but it is true nevertheless. The mere fact that the device is present does not make it wrong or creepy. But certainly that smart phone could be put to such use if the owner set it up for that. The same is true for any other camera in the home.
 

Just Blue

Senior Member
Yes I live there. And I have asked him to shut this off. At least while we are home. He told me they don't record. They just run and take blips. But last night he told me he was going through the footage and heard my call. He got angry because I turned the camera to the wall -- and said that MADE HIM suspicious. I said NO. I told you i don' twant to be recorded.

He also tried to tell me he could hear the calls I had with my therapist on the back porch -- but I think that was a lie. He just says that to try to intimidate me.
Px Hx folks!!
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Its illegal to record someone where they have an expectation of privacy. If its not also your home, then you might not have an expectation of privacy except in the bathroom, and perhaps the bedroom.
One doesn't have to live in the home for there to be an expectation of privacy.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Px Hx folks!!
Lexie, you have been advised several times over the course of several months what we believe you should do about your abusive fiancé.

Leave him.

Because I don't see that you are considering that advice at all, I am not sure what else you expect a legal forum to do for you. You will continue to be abused until you remove yourself from this toxic relationship.

Security cameras inside homes, as a note, can be smart and are being used with more frequency so homeowners can monitor their homes when they are away. I agree with Taxing that it is not the presence of cameras but how the cameras are used that can be legally problematic.
 

xylene

Senior Member
You could call a women's shelter.

This is textbook emotional abuse, possibly veering into the criminal.
 

not2cleverRed

Obvious Observer
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

Ny fiance had security cameras in his house. I asked him eventually if he wouold please shut them off at least while we were in the house. He said yes.

Recently I noticed they were running. He told me he didn't know what happened, but during an argument he said he had plenty of video to put out on social media to expose my anger and fights, too.

He never has hit me but he says God awful things. but this threat woke me up.

Is that legal? Can he record me in the house while I'm home and doing whatever? I asked for access and he said "why cause you want to frame me...no you are up to no good"

It concerns me he won't give me access...

And now - after this argument...he is currently deleting everything - I think I scared him. But hoenstly I was thinking of talking to police. I can't believe he is threatening me. And he wont' even confirm what he said on the pone -- in text. He says "not playing your game...you are trying to frame me..." in the texts...
Clearly it *hasn't* woken you up, because you are still with him.

I've told you before: get out. It will not get better. Your "love" will not win him over. You are not married, and with marriage comes complacency: he will only get worse and more controlling.

And yes, this is *legal* advice: don't marry him. Because if you marry him, your only exit is death or divorce. And divorce is cheaper, but still traumatic (and expensive). Better to have no legally binding ties.

And more free *legal* advice: get out of this relationship if you want to continue having unsupervised parenting time with your child. Because those recordings are a hop skip and a jump from proving that your child is being emotionally abused by being exposed to this situation.

Leave.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top