Use of Surveillance Cameras inResidential Areas
By: Michelle Kirby, Senior Legislative Attorney
February 16, 2023 | 2023-R-0068

Issue
What are the laws that govern the use of surveillance cameras in residential areas? (This report
updates OLR Report 2009-R-0359.)

Summary

Related Report

There are laws that protect an individual’s privacy that could
apply to the use of surveilance cameras in residential areas.
The primary statute is the voyeurism law, which generally
makes it a punishable crime to watch or record others in a
private setting without their knowledge. Depending on thecircumstances, voyeurism is a class D or class C felony (seebelow).

See OLR Report 2022-R-0234
for a look at state laws that
apply to the installation ofsecurity cameras in hallways
and stairwells of owneroccupied multi-family rentalproperties.

Under state law, residential areas that are in plain view and where the occupant would have noreasonable expectation of privacy generally do not fall under the voyeurism statutes. On the other
hand, the surveillance of a person’s back yard may meet the laws criteria if the yard is fenced andnot open to plain view.
Other statutes dealing with privacy rights that may apply include disorderly conduct and the use ofelectronic surveillance by employers.
Case law and the Restatement of Torts also provide civil remedies if an individual’s right to privacy
is violated.
www.cga.ct.gov/olr
OLRequest@cga.ct.gov

Connecticut General Assembly
Office of Legislative Research
Stephanie A. D’Ambrose, Director(860) 240-8400
Room 5300
Legislative Office BuildingState Laws
Voyeurism
Generally, a person is guilty of voyeurism when he or she, with malice or an intent to satisfy
his or her or another’s sexual desire, knowingly photographs, films, videotapes, or otherwise
records the image of another person (1) without that person’s knowledge and consent, (2) whilethat person is not in plain view, and (3) under circumstances where that person has a reasonable
expectation of privacy (CGS § 53a-189a(a)(1 & 2)).
By law, a person also commits voyeurism if he or she, intending to arouse or satisfy his or her
sexual desire, commits simple trespass and observes, in a manner that is not casual or cursory,another person without his or her knowledge or consent, while that person is inside a dwelling and
not in plain view, under circumstances where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy (CGS §53a-189a(a)(3)). While this form of voyeurism would occur in a residential setting, it addresses theconduct of observing as opposed to recording, and thus does not directly address the use ofsurveillance cameras. (A person is guilty of simple trespass (an infraction) when, knowing that he orshe is not licensed or privileged to do so, the person enters or remains in or on any premises
without intent to harm any property (CGS § 53a-110a).)

Penalty. A first offense of voyeurism is a class D felony. The penalty increases to a class C felony
for subsequent offenses or when the intended subject is a minor under age 16, or the offender has
been previously convicted of certain sexual assault crimes (CGS § 53a-189a(c)). It is an additionalclass D felony to disseminate voyeuristic materials (CGS § 53a-189b).
A class D felony is punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine up to $5,000, or both. A class C
felony is punishable 1 to 10 years in prison, a fine up to $10,000, or both.

Disorderly Conduct
A person is guilty of disorderly conduct if he or she takes certain actions with the intent to causeinconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly create a risk of these. One form of disorderly
conduct occurs when the person (1) commits simple trespass and observes another person in amanner other than casual or cursory, (2) without that other person’s knowledge or consent, (3)while that person is inside a dwelling and not in plain view, and (4) under circumstances where that
person has a reasonable expectation of privacy (CGS § 53a-182). (While this crime would occur in a
residential setting, the conduct that constitutes the crime does not explicitly require the use of arecording or surveillance device.)
Disorderly conduct is a class C misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to three months in prison,a fine up to $500, or both.
2023-R-0068

February 16, 2023

Page 2 of 3

Use of Electronic Surveillance Devices by Employers
CGS § 31-48b prohibits an employer or its agent or representative from using an electronic
surveillance device or system (e.g., a sound or voice recording device or closed-circuit televisionsystem) to record or monitor the activities of employees in areas designed for their health or
personal comfort or for safeguarding of their possessions (e.g., rest rooms, locker rooms, orlounges). This provision does not apply to surveillance in residential settings, however, given
today’s use of telecommunication technology to facilitate working remotely from home, it is unclear
whether a court would decide that this law could apply in certain work-from-home arrangements.

Case Law
In Goodrich v. Waterbury Republican American, Inc., the Connecticut Supreme Court recognized acommon law right to privacy, “the right to be let alone” (188 Conn. 107 (1982)). The court
recognized four types of invasions of privacy, based on those outlined in the Restatement (Second)of Torts (a legal treatise that articulates the principles or rules for a specific area of law). One ofthese, the tort of “unreasonable intrusion upon the seclusion,” may apply regarding the use ofsurveillance cameras in residential areas.

Intrusion Upon Seclusion
Under the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652B, a person who intentionally intrudes, physically orotherwise, upon the seclusion of another or that person’s private affairs or concerns, is subject toliability to the other person for invasion of privacy, if the intrusion would be highly offensive to areasonable person.

MK:kl2023-R-0068

February 16, 2023

Page 3 of 3