Is it legal to recording people in public in United States?
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Quick answer
Legal position
Current starter summary
The United States does not have a single uniform rule. Official state sources focus heavily on whether there is a reasonable expectation of privacy; California excludes public gatherings and similar non-confidential circumstances from its confidential-communication rule, while Texas official guidance says security cameras are generally legal where they record areas without a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Conditions
What would need to be true
It depends on state law, whether audio is also captured, and whether the people recorded had a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Exceptions
Known carve-outs or edge cases
This row does not flatten all 50 states into one rule; the official picture is state-dependent.
Penalties
Penalty snapshot
If audio or other confidential communications are captured without the consent required by applicable law, penalties depend on the federal or state rule engaged.
Enforcement
How this may be enforced
Enforcement depends on the applicable state privacy or recording law and the facts of the recording.
More rules in United States
Use the reset build to keep country pages useful even before every row is fully sourced.
buy a pepper spray
The United States does not have one nationwide pepper-spray rule. Official state sources show state-dependent regulation: California allows purchase, possession, and use of qualifying tear-gas aerosol weapons solely for self-defence, while New York allows possession and sale of self-defence spray devices only under listed age, criminal-history, labeling, and vendor rules.
buy a stun gun
The United States does not have one nationwide stun-gun rule. Official state sources show state-dependent regulation: Massachusetts officially says stun guns are allowed but regulated, with official rules restricting access or use by non-licensed persons, while the same state also imposes safe-storage requirements and its official FAQ says a current license to carry is needed to purchase or possess a stun gun.
buy a taser
The United States does not have one nationwide Taser rule. Official state sources show state-dependent regulation of electric-shock weapons: California law places tasers and stun guns together in statutory location restrictions and defines a stun gun broadly as an electrical immobilizing offensive or defensive weapon, while Massachusetts defines stun guns to include devices that deliver shock by dart or projectile via a wire lead and officially says civilian possession is regulated and license-linked.
buy brass knuckles
The United States does not have one nationwide brass-knuckles rule. Official state sources show state-dependent regulation: California criminalizes manufacturing, importing, keeping for sale, offering for sale, giving, lending, or possessing metal knuckles, while Massachusetts punishes carrying metallic knuckles on the person or under control in a vehicle without legal authorization.
Compare this activity in other countries
This makes the rule page useful for comparison without creating a second data source.
Australia
Recording people in public in Australia is not automatically unlawful but organisations and agencies using security cameras or similar surveillance devices generally must comply with privacy rules and relevant state or territory surveillance laws.
Austria
Austria’s Data Protection Authority says photo and video recording needs a lawful basis and proportionality. Recording people in public therefore depends on what is being recorded, why, and how broadly the recording intrudes on others.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina's data-protection authority says video surveillance is processing of personal data and must meet necessity, proportionality and accountability requirements. Recording people in public is therefore not a free-for-all if identifiable individuals are being monitored.
Canada
Recording people in public is not automatically unlawful in Canada but organizations using overt video surveillance still need a specific justified purpose and should use the least privacy invasive measure that works.
About this row
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