Droning On, No Place To Hide Dept. 0
In the Inky, Margaret Kaminsky wonders whether you can protect your droning from their droning.
The “right to record” is not firmly established; nor is it clear how broad this right might be. So far, the “right to record” has been used by courts to protect people who record public officials acting in public, as a matter of public interest.
It is not clear if the “right to record” can be used to successfully challenge privacy laws that protect private spaces, or private citizens. But several older cases suggest that a person appearing in a public space cannot prevent another person from taking a photograph of them.
Several states have wiretap laws that require a person to get permission from all parties in a conversation before recording it. These wiretap laws have been used by police to arrest people who record police activity in public using cellular phones. But several courts have found that such recordings are protected by the First Amendment, recognizing a First Amendment “right to record.”Regardless of what courts may find, I expect we can expect to have the eaves dropped on us with regularity. Pretty soon, there will be no cone of silence.
