Legal Use Policy
Discreet recording equipment is legal to own and illegal to misuse. This page states, in plain language, what our customers may and may not do with it, and what we check before an order ships.
Last updated: March 3, 2026
The short version
Buy these units to protect property you own or control. Do not use them to record people in private places, and do not record anyone where the law requires their consent. If you are unsure whether a placement is lawful, ask us before you order. We would rather lose a sale than ship a problem.
What we sell
Every discreet recording unit in our catalog is a self-contained recorder with a visible status indicator. We do not sell units with the status light disabled, we do not sell units disguised as objects a stranger would pick up and use: no pens, no bottles, no chargers, no USB drives, no smoke alarms or household decor. We do not sell hidden cameras aimed at private spaces.
Lawful uses we support
- Your own home, including rooms shared with family members who know the equipment is there.
- Your own vehicle, and vehicles you own or manage as a business.
- A workplace you own or manage, in areas where staff and visitors have been told recording takes place: entrances, tills, stockrooms, loading bays and public areas.
- A rental property you own, for protecting the building and your own belongings between tenancies, never while a tenant is living there.
- A job site, warehouse or yard you control, for loss prevention and insurance evidence.
What we prohibit
We refuse orders, and cancel orders already placed, where we have reason to believe a unit will be used for any of the following:
- Bathrooms, toilets, showers, changing rooms, locker rooms or any space where someone undresses.
- Bedrooms, hotel rooms, or any space someone sleeps in without their knowledge.
- Renting a room to someone and recording inside it without telling them.
- Recording a person who has not consented where the law requires consent, including most two-party-consent states.
- Recording audio of a private conversation you are not part of.
- Monitoring employees in break areas, or any monitoring a local law restricts, without taking employment-law advice first.
- Anywhere you do not own or control the space, or do not have written permission from the person who does.
Before you install anything, answer these six questions
- Does the person being recorded know the equipment exists? If not, is there a clear legal basis?
- Is this a place where a reasonable person would expect privacy? If yes, do not install it.
- Does your state require all-party consent for audio? Audio is the part that most often breaks the law.
- If this is a workplace, have you told staff in writing, and checked your obligations as an employer?
- If this is a rental, is the unit vacant, and did the lease tell the tenant that security equipment exists?
- Would you be comfortable explaining the installation to a police officer or a judge?
What the law generally says
Rules differ by country and by US state, and they separate video from audio. In most US states, video recording in a place where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a bathroom, bedroom or changing room, is a crime regardless of who owns the building. Audio is stricter still: federal law and roughly a dozen states require the consent of all parties to record a private conversation, so a recorder that captures sound can be unlawful even where the picture would not be. Similar regimes apply in the UK, the EU, Canada and Australia, where data protection law also imposes notice, storage and retention duties.
This page is a summary for buyers, not legal advice. Local counsel is cheap compared with the alternative.
Recording in the workplace
An employer may generally monitor areas for security and loss prevention where staff have been told, but monitoring that extends to break areas, union activity or personal conversations attracts liability in many jurisdictions. Put the policy in writing, keep recordings no longer than necessary, restrict who can view them, and take advice before you install audio.
What we ask at checkout
Orders containing discreet recording units require the buyer to confirm the lawful-use statement before the request is submitted, and to give us a contact identity we can reach. We may ask follow-up questions about the intended placement. We keep that confirmation on file with the order.
Reporting misuse
If you believe a Oakvigil unit is being used to harass, stalk or surveil someone unlawfully, contact local law enforcement first, then tell us at [email protected] with the model code and, if you have it, the order reference. We cooperate with lawful requests from police.