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Consider the following scenarios:

Alice visits Bob's home and he has surveillance devices in operation for security which record all of their interactions.

Alice visits Bob's home after they go on a date and as a matter of general practice Bob surreptitiously starts a recorder as insurance in case she later attempts to accuse him of rape.

Alice visits Bob's home and they anticipate the interaction to be fraught. Bob doesn't know whether she might try to coerce or blackmail him, so he starts a recorder without her knowledge.

In each of these cases, has Bob done anything wrong?

Does it make a difference if he only refers to the recordings himself and does not publish or disclose them?

Does it make a difference if he only relies on them to prove Alice's lies or wrongdoing, thus retrospectively vindicating that Bob indeed had a reasonable excuse to be motivated to record her after all?

Does it make a difference that it is Bob's home?

How does the situation differ from a shop running CCTV on their own premises?

What if it was a phone conversation rather than in person at Bob's home?

JosephCorrectEnglishPronouns
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1 Answers1

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In England and Wales, in general it is legal to make a recording in one's own home without the knowledge or consent of the other participants.

In general the law with regard to recordings is more strict in non-domestic contexts than it is in domestic contexts. For example, a business must "make all reasonable efforts" to inform a caller that their telephone call may be recorded. A business has obligations under data protection law that the householder does not have.

Depending on the circumstances the homeowner might commit a civil tort (breach of confidence) or criminal offence if he discloses or publishes the recording made without the consent of the other participants. E.g. submitting it as evidence to court is OK, sharing it with friends or publishing it on the internet is likely not OK.

In the specific context of the homeowner making a recording of a sexual act with another person and the other person has not consented to the making of the recording:

  • if the homeowner shares the recording they might be investigated/prosecuted for the criminal offence of voyeurism (s67(3) Sexual Offences Act 2003)

  • in R. v Richards the Court of Appeal ruled that the making of the recording for one's own sexual gratification amounts to the criminal offence of voyeurism (s67(3) Sexual Offences Act 2003)

Lag
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