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Comment by MikeTheGreat | Hacker News Reader

I'm not a lawyer and I think this varies state by state, but I think that in general anyone is allowed to record in public spaces.

I think the general idea is that if you could (legally) go stand in that public space (sidewalks, roads, parks) and watch something happen then you're allowed to record what you see.

This is probably good - I think it's the basis of being able to record misbehavior (by private citizens and/or the police), for example.

In contrast you're generally not allowed to record stuff happening in a private space unless everyone's been informed that this will happen.

This is why you'll see signs saying "Warning - this place is under surveillance" signs on every single door going into a corporation that wants to use security cameras.

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You are allowed to record stuff happening in private spaces depending on the situation and state you are in.

For example, you could photograph or record the dance floor in nightclub since dance floor is very public. However, the bathroom would not be allowed. Of course, the venue could make up rules and eject you for doing so.

Most of "Warning signs" are deterrence, maybe someone will behave better if they know cameras are watching. Also, it's cheap insurance dictate by the lawyers who think "Signs are 100 bucks total but someone filing privacy lawsuit is thousands, put up the signs."

"You are allowed to record stuff happening in private spaces depending on the situation and state you are in."

The part about "depending on the situation and state you are in." is doing _a_lot_ of work there. Here in WA state, for example, if you go into a private meeting and record the thing without getting folks consent first then you're guilty of a misdemeanor.

Another example: in my old neighbor we had a nuisance neighbor who we all thought was engaged in Crimes, Plural. The immediate neighbor wanted to put up a video camera to catch them in the act but was told that they can't film the neighbor's yard directly. Filming their own yard and the field of view happens to catch something in the adjacent yard might get by a judge, maybe. So even if you can stand on the sidewalk and see past the trees into someone's backyard that doesn't mean you can film it.

(To be clear - I think this probably a good rule. I don't want folks filming me in my backyard :) )

Clearly, the tl;dr is that if this really matters to someone then they should check with a lawyer first.

In Germany we have the concept of informational self-determination for a long time, so that I am not able to follow those scaling laws easily. The problem is not the single image or video (which can be legal), but the extension over space and time. This creates a situation where you can create information profiles. I as a subject have the right to control this information (actually the same goes for the pure online stuff).

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