How Do I Stop Someone from Spying on Me?
Full Question:
Answer:
The federal and state statutes that govern eavesdropping require interception of a conversation. The "interception" of a "private communication" is not merely listening to a private communication but includes the means used to "acquire" the "private communication". “Intercept” means to acquire the contents of any wire, electronic, or oral communication through the use of any electronic, mechanical, or other device. If the person is intercepting a private conversation, the federal law provides an exemption if done under the with the terms of a court order, statutory authorization, or certification under federal wiretapping law.
It may be possible to file criminal charges or file a civil lawsuit for invasion of privacy. Invasion of privacy is the intrusion into the personal life of another, without just cause, which can give the person whose privacy has been invaded a right to bring a lawsuit for damages against the person or entity that intruded. It encompasses workplace monitoring, Internet privacy, data collection, and other means of disseminating private information. A non-public individual has a right to privacy from: a) intrusion on one's solitude or into one's private affairs; b) public disclosure of embarrassing private information; c) publicity which puts him/her in a false light to the public; d) appropriation of one's name or picture for personal or commercial advantage.
Invasion of privacy may also include criminal charges, such as violation of wiretapping or criminal trespass statutes.
A public figure is a person of great public interest or fame, such as a politician, celebrity, or sports hero. The term usually used in the context of libel and defamation actions, where the standards of proof are higher if the party claiming defamation is a public figure and therefore has to prove disparaging remarks were made with actual malice.
A person may also be considered a "limited purpose" public figure by having thrust themselves to the forefront of particular public controversies in order to influence the resolution of the issues involved. The determination is made on a case-by-case basis, taking the particular facts into account.
A neighbor has a right to survey his property as long as he does not violate your rights to privacy. If the camera views the outside of your home and garden, it is generally not an invasion of privacy, but if the camera is surveilling the inside of the home, rights to privacy are violated.
The CCRs may regulate the installation of devices that are visible from the street or from a neighbor's property. The CCRs often regulate the installation of satellite dishes and HAM radio antennas, for example. The same CCRs may require a homeowner to obtain HOA permission to install security cameras unless the cameras are unobtrusive. The CCRs should be carefully analyzed to determine if the neighbor complied with CCRs and architectural guidelines before installing the security cameras.
The following is a CA statute:
§ 1708.8 Civ.
(a) A person is liable for physical invasion of privacy when the
defendant knowingly enters onto the land of another person without
permission or otherwise committed a trespass in order to physically invade
the privacy of the plaintiff with the intent to capture any type
of visual image, sound recording, or other physical impression of the
plaintiff engaging in a personal or familial activity and the physical
invasion occurs in a manner that is offensive to a reasonable person.
(b) A person is liable for constructive invasion of privacy when the
defendant attempts to capture, in a manner that is offensive to a
reasonable person, any type of visual image, sound recording, or other
physical impression of the plaintiff engaging in a personal or familial
activity under circumstances in which the plaintiff had a reasonable
expectation of privacy, through the use of a visual or auditory enhancing
device, regardless of whether there is a physical trespass, if this
image, sound recording, or other physical impression could not have been
achieved without a trespass unless the visual or auditory enhancing
device was used.
(c) An assault committed with the intent to capture any type of visual
image, sound recording, or other physical impression of the plaintiff is
subject to subdivisions (d), (e), and (h).
(d) A person who commits any act described in subdivision (a), (b), or
(c) is liable for up to three times the amount of any general and special
damages that are proximately caused by the violation of this
section. This person may also be liable for punitive damages, subject to proof
according to Section 3294. If the plaintiff proves that the invasion
of privacy was committed for a commercial purpose, the defendant shall also
be subject to disgorgement to the plaintiff of any proceeds or other
consideration obtained as a result of the violation of this section.
(e) A person who directs, solicits, actually induces, or actually
causes another person, regardless of whether there is an
employer-employee relationship, to violate any provision
of subdivision (a), (b), or (c) is liable for any general, special, and consequential
damages resulting from each said violation. In addition, the person that
directs, solicits, instigates, induces, or otherwise causes another
person, regardless of whether there is an employer-employee relationship,
to violate this Section shall be liable for punitive damages to the
extent that an employer would be subject to punitive damages pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 3294.
(f) Sale, transmission, publication, broadcast, or use of any image
or recording of the type, or under the circumstances, described in this
Section shall not itself constitute a violation of this section, nor
shall this Section be construed to limit all other rights or remedies
of plaintiff in law or equity, including, but not limited to, the publication
of private facts.
(g) This Section shall not be construed to impair or limit any
otherwise lawful activities of law enforcement personnel or employees
of governmental agencies or other entities, either public or private who, in
the course and scope of their employment, and supported by an articulable
suspicion, attempt to capture any type of visual image, sound recording,
or other physical impression of a person during an investigation,
surveillance, or monitoring of any conduct to obtain evidence
of suspected illegal activity, the suspected violation of any administrative
rule or regulation, a suspected fraudulent insurance claim, or any other
suspected fraudulent conduct or activity involving a violation of law
or pattern of business practices adversely affecting the public health
or safety.
(h) In any action pursuant to this section, the court may grant
equitable relief, including, but not limited to, an injunction and
restraining order against further violations of subdivision (a) or (b).
(i) The rights and remedies provided in this Section are cumulative and
in addition to any other rights and remedies provided by law.
(j) It is not a defense to a violation of this Section that no image,
recording, or physical impression was captured or sold.
(k) For the purposes of this section, "for a commercial purpose" means
any act done with the expectation of a sale, financial gain, or other
consideration. A visual image, sound recording, or other physical
impression shall not be found to have been, or intended to have been
captured for a commercial purpose unless it is intended to be, or was in
fact, sold, published, or transmitted
(l) For the purposes of this section, "personal and familial activity"
includes, but is not limited to, intimate details of the plaintiff's
personal life, interactions with the plaintiff's family or significant
others, or other aspects of plaintiff's private affairs or concerns.
Personal and familial activity does not include illegal or otherwise
criminal activity as delineated in subdivision (f). However, "personal
and familial activity" shall include the activities of victims of crime
in circumstances where either subdivision (a) or (b), or both, would
apply
(m) The provisions of this Section are severable. If any provision
of this Section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall
not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect
without the invalid provision or application.
California's wiretapping law is a "two-party consent" law. California makes it a crime to record or eavesdrop on any confidential communication, including a private conversation or telephone call, without the consent of all parties to the conversation. See Cal. Penal Code § 632. The statute applies to "confidential communications" -- i.e., conversations in which the participants have an expectation of privacy. Conversations that occur in a public space or in an area where the parties do not have any expectation of privacy are not covered by the wiretapping statute.
The following is a CA statute:
631.
(a) Any person who, by means of any machine, instrument, or contrivance, or in any other manner, intentionally taps, or makes any unauthorized connection, whether physically, electrically, acoustically, inductively, or otherwise, with any telegraph or telephone wire, line, cable, or instrument, including the wire, line, cable, or instrument of any internal telephonic communication system, or who willfully and without the consent of all parties to the communication, or in any unauthorized manner, reads, or attempts to read, or to learn the contents or meaning of any message, report, or communication while the same is in transit or passing over any wire, line, or cable, or is being sent from, or received at any place within this state; or who uses, or attempts to use, in any manner, or for any purpose, or to communicate in any way, any information so obtained, or who aids, agrees with, employs, or conspires with any person or persons to unlawfully do, or permit, or cause to be done any of the acts or things mentioned above in this section, is punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison, or by both a fine and imprisonment in the county jail or in the state prison.If the person has previously been convicted of a violation of this section or Section 632, 632.5, 632.6, 632.7, or 636, he or she is punishable by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison, or by both a fine and imprisonment in the county jail or in the state prison.
(b) This section shall not apply
(1) to any public utility engaged in the business of providing communications services and facilities, or to the officers, employees or agents thereof, where the acts otherwise prohibited herein are for the purpose of construction, maintenance, conduct or operation of the services and facilities of the public utility, or
(2) to the use of any instrument, equipment, facility, or service furnished and used pursuant to the tariffs of a public utility, or
(3) to any telephonic communication system used for communication exclusively within a state, county, city and county, or city correctional facility.
(c) Except as proof in an action or prosecution for violation of this section, no evidence obtained in violation of this section shall be admissible in any judicial, administrative, legislative, or other proceeding. (d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1994.
632.
(a) Every person who, intentionally and without the consent of all parties to a confidential communication, by means of any electronic amplifying or recording device, eavesdrops upon or records the confidential communication, whether the communication is carried on among the parties in the presence of one another or by means of a telegraph, telephone, or other device, except a radio, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.If the person has previously been convicted of a violation of this section or Section 631, 632.5, 632.6, 632.7, or 636, the person shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(b) The term "person" includes an individual, business association, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal entity, and an individual acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of any government or subdivision thereof, whether federal, state, or local, but excludes an individual known by all parties to a confidential communication to be overhearing or recording the communication.
(c) The term "confidential communication" includes any communication carried on in circumstances as may reasonably indicate that any party to the communication desires it to be confined to the parties thereto, but excludes a communication made in a public gathering or in any legislative, judicial, executive or administrative proceeding open to the public, or in any other circumstance in which the parties to the communication may reasonably expect that the communication may be overheard or recorded.
(d) Except as proof in an action or prosecution for violation of this section, no evidence obtained as a result of eavesdropping upon or recording a confidential communication in violation of this section shall be admissible in any judicial, administrative, legislative, or other proceeding.
(e) This section does not apply
(1) to any public utility engaged in the business of providing communications services and facilities, or to the officers, employees or agents thereof, where the acts otherwise prohibited by this section are for the purpose of construction, maintenance, conduct or operation of the services and facilities of the public utility, or
(2) to the use of any instrument, equipment, facility, or service furnished and used pursuant to the tariffs of a public utility, or
(3) to any telephonic communication system used for communication exclusively within a state, county, city and county, or city correctional facility.
(f) This section does not apply to the use of hearing aids and similar devices, by persons afflicted with impaired hearing, for the purpose of overcoming the impairment to permit the hearing of sounds ordinarily audible to the human ear.
