Hidden Camera Ethics

There are many uses of hidden cameras including nanny cams to monitor your babysitter’s behavior, hidden TV news cameras to report on an expose, and police surveillance cameras to bust the bad guys.  Regardless of why you use a hidden camera, all hidden cameras pose ethical questions. 

          Is it Legal?

          Most video recordings in the U.S. are legal with or without consent.  However, keep in mind that several laws do cover “Invasion of Privacy,” which deals with the concept of expected privacy.  Expected privacy includes bathrooms, bedrooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, and other areas where a person may expect a certain level of personal privacy.

          Nanny Cams

          There are many media stories that cover captured abuse by a nanny cam.  The video is usually taken by the average concerned parent or relative.   Those that use nanny cams seem to focus on potential abuse being a reason to use the nanny cam, but there are advocacy groups for nannies that say secret videotaping is an invasion of privacy that breaks the trust between parents and child care providers.  Others say that in the eyes of the law nanny cams, for the most part, are legal and if a parent chooses to use one, so be it.  Nannies give up their choice of privacy when they choose to enter someone’s home.  Who’s right?  Well, that’s pretty much a matter of opinion.  I’ll let you decide.

            Investigative TV Reporting with Hidden Cameras

            Hidden cameras have been used in TV news for years.   Local and national networks use them to uncover government fraud, abuse in nursing homes, and the list goes on.  While the public may love it, the person secretly being taped hates it.

          Bob Steele is Nelson Poynter’s Scholar for Journalism Values.  When it comes to hidden cameras, he writes the following:

“Because they involve deception, hidden cameras should be our last choice for reporting a story.  It is appropriate to consider their use on stories where we have ruled out all other alternatives for obtaining the same information.  We must exhaust traditional reporting methods of interviewing, observing and researching documents and databases.”

Steele continues to write:

“The best of hidden camera reporting has exposed systemic racial discrimination, critical weaknesses in airport security, gross incompetence by law enforcement officers, and inappropriate patient care in nursing homes and hospitals. Unfortunately, those moments are outweighed by the glut of hidden camera stories focusing on small scale consumer problems, “gotcha” pieces and weak investigative reports that don’t justify deception.”

Police Surveillance Cameras

          Those that support police surveillance cameras argue that there are terrorists and criminals out there and that surveillance can help stop crime and violence.  Already, the Department of Homeland Security has handed out hundreds of millions of dollars to fund more surveillance cameras in cities across the nation.  But privacy supporters like the American Civil Liberties Union say police surveillance is taking away privacy rights and failing to curb crime.  The argument is that people will feel less free because legal public behavior like attending a political rally, entering a doctor’s office, or even joking with a friend at the park will leave a permanent record, retrievable by authorities at any time.