The rules, in plain English

Inside your own home, video recording is legal in all 50 states. Living rooms, kitchens, hallways, garages, home offices, entryways, porches, and yards are all fair territory. You do not need anyone's permission to watch your own living room.

Anywhere a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy: bathrooms, changing areas, and the private bedroom of a guest, tenant, or live-in employee. That rule holds in every state, in your own house, no exceptions. Voyeurism laws carry criminal penalties.

If you rent property to tenants or host short-term guests, their space is their space. Airbnb bans indoor cameras entirely, disclosed or not. Recording inside a tenant's unit is illegal.

Audio is regulated much more strictly than video. Federal wiretap law and the laws of roughly a dozen states (including California, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Massachusetts) restrict recording conversations, and in the all-party-consent states everyone in the conversation must agree.

A hidden camera that records sound can turn a legal home-security setup into a crime. So we removed the question: every camera we sell records video only. You lose nothing that matters for security and you stay clearly inside the law in all 50 states.

Video-only nanny cams are legal in the common areas of your home in every state. Some states require you to tell household employees they may be recorded, and we recommend disclosure everywhere. Tell your nanny, sitter, cleaner, or aide that cameras are present. A disclosed camera still deters problems, still answers questions, and starts the relationship honest.

See our nanny cam guidefor placement and disclosure specifics.

Monitoring a partner, an adult family member, a roommate, or anyone else without their knowledge is illegal in most circumstances and against everything this store is for. We do not build products for it, we do not write guides for it, and if an order or support request makes the intent clear, we cancel and refund it.