[ickwabe]

Additionally it is in fact expressly illegal in 13 US states (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Utah) to use video or audio equipment in a private areas without express permission of the observed.

And other restrictions apply in other states: https://www.rcfp.org/first-amendment-handbook/introduction-r...

[jonatanheyman]

In Sweden it's also a crime to secretly film someone in a private area (the whole home counts, and even garden and balcony). It doesn't matter who is being recorded or who put up the camera. The maximum penalty is two years imprisonment.

[gondo]

so if you live alone, monitor your own house and a thief come for "a visit" you can get sued and imprisoned?

[jonatanheyman]

No, I doubt that. For someone to be convicted for this, criminal intent must be proven. If someone lives alone - and informs any guests that they have a camera inside - it should be hard for the burglar to claim that the home owner intended to secretly film them.

[Doxin]

On the other hand, the purpose of installing a camera in the first place would be fairly good proof of intent to secretly film intruders. That's somewhat the entire point of security cameras.

[pvaldes]

It seems that if you put a hidden wildlife camera in a swedish forest to make nature photos, you can be sued (if I'm not wrong). The "this is my garden" part should be taken seriously.

[jonatanheyman]

Not true. Anyone is allowed to take photographs and film in public spaces which should definitely include forests. Though this does not apply to installing permanent cameras in public spaces, which is much more restricted.

[pvaldes]

The main purpose of a wildlife camera-trap is to be set and left in the wild for days, weeks or months. In this sense can be called permanent. The best models are relatively expensive and can be stolen if you don't hide it carefully. Those camera are also used for fighting against environmental crimes (i.e: exposing arsonists walking the forest at 4AM minutes before a fireforest starts), so can be vandalized.

[jonatanheyman]

Ah, I didn't know that, thanks. In those cases you're probably correct that it's illegal to put up such camera without obtaining a permission. Though I don't think it's the law about "Kränkande Fotografering" (roughly translates to "Offensive Photography") - which is the law that makes it illegal to put up secret cameras in a home - that you'd be violating, but rather some other law that regulates surveillance cameras.