II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3214 

To prohibit any person from engaging in certain video surveillance except 

under the same conditions authorized under chapter 119 of title 18, 

United States Code, or as authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 15, 2010 

Mr. SPECTER (for himself, Mr. FEINGOLD, and Mr. KAUFMAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit any person from engaging in certain video surveillance except under the same conditions authorized 

under chapter 119 of title 18, United States Code, or 

as authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance 

Act of 1978. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Surreptitious Video 

5 Surveillance Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF VIDEO SURVEILLANCE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 119 of title 18, United 

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘§ 2523. Prohibition on use of video surveillance 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘video 

7 surveillance’ means the intentional acquisition, capture, or 

8 recording of a visual image or images of any individual 

9 if— 

10 ‘‘(1) the individual is in an area of a temporary 

11 or permanent residence that is not readily observable 

12 from a public location; 

13 ‘‘(2) the individual has a reasonable expectation 

14 of privacy in the area; and 

15 ‘‘(3) the visual image or images— 

16 ‘‘(A) are made without the consent of— 

17 ‘‘(i) an individual present in the area; 

18 or 

19 ‘‘(ii) a resident of the temporary or 

20 permanent residence; and 

21 ‘‘(B) are— 

22 ‘‘(i) produced using a device, appa23 ratus, or other item that was mailed, 

24 shipped, or transported in or affecting 

25 interstate or foreign commerce by any 

26 means; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) transported or transmitted, in or 

2 affecting, or using any means or facility of, 

3 interstate or foreign commerce, including 

4 by computer. 

5 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON VIDEO SURVEILLANCE.—It 

6 shall be unlawful for any person to engage in any video 

7 surveillance, except— 

8 ‘‘(1) as provided in this section; or 

9 ‘‘(2) as authorized under the Foreign Intel10 ligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et 

11 seq.). 

12 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT AS ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2)— 

14 ‘‘(A) video surveillance shall be considered 

15 to be an interception of an electronic commu16 nication for the purposes of this chapter; and 

17 ‘‘(B) it shall not be unlawful for a person 

18 to engage in video surveillance if the video sur19 veillance is conducted in a manner or is of a 

20 type authorized under this chapter for the 

21 interception of an electronic communication. 

22 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Sections 2511(2)(c), 

23 2511(2)(d), 2512, 2513, and 2518(10)(c) shall not 

24 apply to video surveillance. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION OF USE AS EVIDENCE OF

2 VIDEO SURVEILLANCE.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No part of the con4 tents of video surveillance and no evidence de5 rived from video surveillance may be received in 

6 evidence in any trial, hearing, or other pro7 ceeding in or before any court, grand jury, de8 partment, officer, agency, regulatory body, leg9 islative committee, or other authority of the 

10 United States, a State, or political subdivision 

11 thereof if the disclosure of the video surveillance 

12 would be in violation of this chapter. 

13 ‘‘(B) MOTION TO SUPPRESS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any aggrieved 

15 person in any trial, hearing, or proceeding 

16 described in subparagraph (A) may move 

17 to suppress the contents of any video sur18 veillance conducted under this chapter, or 

19 any evidence derived from the video sur20 veillance, on the grounds that— 

21 ‘‘(I) the video surveillance was 

22 unlawfully conducted; 

23 ‘‘(II) the order of authorization 

24 or approval under which the video 


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1 surveillance was conducted was insuf2 ficient on its face; or 

3 ‘‘(III) the video surveillance was 

4 not conducted in conformity with the 

5 order of authorization or approval. 

6 ‘‘(ii) TIMING OF MOTION.—A motion 

7 made under clause (i) shall be made before 

8 the trial, hearing, or proceeding unless— 

9 ‘‘(I) there was no opportunity to 

10 make such motion; or 

11 ‘‘(II) the aggrieved person de12 scribed in clause (i) was not aware of 

13 the grounds of the motion. 

14 ‘‘(iii) REMEDY.—If the motion made 

15 under clause (i) is granted, the contents of 

16 the video surveillance, or evidence derived 

17 from the video surveillance, shall be treat18 ed as having been obtained in violation of 

19 this chapter. 

20 ‘‘(iv) INSPECTION OF EVIDENCE.— 

21 The judge, upon filing of a motion under 

22 clause (i), may, in the discretion of the 

23 judge, make available to the aggrieved per24 son or counsel for the aggrieved person for 

25 inspection such portions of the video surVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:11 Apr 16, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3214.IS S3214

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1 veillance or evidence derived from the video 

2 surveillance as the judge determines to be 

3 in the interests of justice. 

4 ‘‘(v) RIGHT TO APPEAL.— 

5 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—In addition 

6 to any other right to appeal, the 

7 United States shall have the right to 

8 appeal from an order granting a mo9 tion made under clause (i), or the de10 nial of an application for an order of 

11 approval, if the United States attor12 ney certifies to the judge or other offi13 cial granting the motion or denying 

14 the application that the appeal is not 

15 taken for purposes of delay. 

16 ‘‘(II) FILING DEADLINE.—An ap17 peal under subclause (I) shall— 

18 ‘‘(aa) be taken within 30 

19 days after the date the order was 

20 entered; and 

21 ‘‘(bb) be diligently pros22 ecuted.’’. 


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1 (b) CHAPTER ANALYSIS.—The table of sections for 

2 chapter 119 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

3 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘2523. Prohibition on use of video surveillance.’’. 

Æ 


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