As far as I can tell the guy recorded himself and the data was automatically uploaded from Mark's stolen laptop to his online backup, though Mark is indeed guilty of broadcasting it.
So generally you can plant a hidden camera operated remotely in some attractive item, like a laptop (hey! there's already one!), wait for the victim to take the bait ("steal" your laptop) and after that you can record whatever you wish without anyone pressing against you any wiretapping charges?
Even camera don't have to be started remotely. Hey, my camera is always rolling and sending stream to remote server. That's my laptop and that's how I'm using it.
Erm... You might have missed the part where the perp recorded himself.
There was no remote activation, there was no spying, there was no nothing. The perp recorded himself, and two month later as Mark was checking his backups he realized the stolen machine was still backuping itself.
That's not what happened in this case, of course. The laptop thief used the stolen laptop to film himself but was unaware that the video could be viewed by the laptop's owner. I'm having trouble coming up with an analogy for that one.
I wasn't drawing any analogy. I just wondered if this kind of invigilation is legal. I know thief started the camera and I'm not acusing Mark of planting laptop or wiretapping. I'm just curious if it's legal to spy on people using the scenario I described.
Even camera don't have to be started remotely. Hey, my camera is always rolling and sending stream to remote server. That's my laptop and that's how I'm using it.