When it comes to privacy in our bedrooms, bathrooms, or homes; it is a general expectation that this is the case. However, in most cases, it is the owners of the households living in them that may wish to put up nanny cams or home surveillance for security reasons to protect their family or possessions. Nanny cams, home security cameras, and dash cams are easily accessible to the average citizen. And in the state of California, all three are legal. However, as many legal cases, there are gray areas to take note of.

With the advancement of technology, recording devices have become, and people look to these as a reliable eyewitness in case of an incident in their everyday lives. One attorney stated the following, "While it is easy to have access to various recording devices, it is important to understand the legal ramifications of owning and using such devices. The state of California is a 'two-party consent' state. This means that it is necessary to have permission granted from all parties to make a recording lawful. This applies to a confidential communication, such as a telephone call or private conversations. However, a person at a public gathering shouldn't have reasonable expectations that the conversation can be overheard or recorded."

Another article stated, "As an overall rule, dash cams and home surveillance cameras are not used to record secret conversations but are more so personal protection while driving or against porch thieves and home intruders. Owners of these cameras do not need to ask permission to record in a public place so long as there is no audio eavesdropping on a private conversation. This applies to home security cameras too." The reality is that cameras that are facing public streets or sidewalks likely do not intrude into a private place, but if such cameras have strong microphones, they could potentially capture audio spoken far away between two people that may not be expecting their conversation to be recorded. It is at this point that a person can claim intrusion of privacy.

A law professor stated that a video recording may violate what is referred to as 'community norms.' Such community norms refer to the expectation of privacy that is relative to the customs of the time and place, occupation of the person being recorded and habits of the community around them such as neighbors or other citizens. "For example, a nanny should expect to use a bathroom in private without being recorded because it is the customs of time and place. If a person is getting paid to care for a child in a home that isn't their own, they shouldn't have a reasonable expectation to privacy in common parts of a home that isn't theirs."

With regards to a dash camera, a driver in California is obligated to let a passenger know whether or not the audio conversation is being recorded because of the two-party consent laws; this includes ride-sharing drivers.
In addition, California law states that 'a vehicle equipped with a video event recorder have a notice posted in a visible location stating that a passenger's conversation may be recorded.'

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