Wireless surveillance cameras - use, laws and ethics. | Wireless Nanny Cameras and Your Ethical Obligation

As mentioned in our previous post on wireless nanny cams, one or two well placed wireless surveillance cameras can go a long way to lending piece of mind when it comes to the safety of your children. While we fully endorse their use in such a manner, we feel it would be irresponsible to omit discussion of another person’s rights in this matter; specifically, the rights of your babysitter. 

Ask any parent and I’m sure they’ll confess that the safety of their child trumps the privacy rights of their child’s babysitter. After all, the physical, mental and emotional health of a child is at stake. While that’s true, it isn’t ethical to assume that your babysitter, therefore, has no rights at all when she (or he) enters your home and assumes the responsibility of watching your child. After all, there are far more honest and responsible babysitters and nannies in the world than there are bad else nobody would ever hire babysitters. But perhaps you’re wondering what rights you could possibly be violating by monitoring activity in your own home. 

Assume a scenario in which you’ve hidden a wireless surveillance camera in your living room. Your objective is to ensure the safety of your child. You and your wife will be out of town and the baby sitter will be spending the night to watch your child. Several hours after she puts your child to bed, she undresses and changes into her sweats and t-shirt, then goes to sleep on your living room couch. All of that is captured on camera. The only question to ask yourself is how she would feel if she knew you subsequently reviewed that footage and saw her undress. Regardless your intent, you have just violated her privacy in a very real way. We could further compound this scenario by assuming she is only 16 or 17. Now you’ve really messed up. 

Given the above scenario you may be inclined to assume that what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her, but in matters of ethics and privacy rights, you can’t be so cavalier. Though unlikely, were she to discover that you watched her stripping on your camera, you might very well find yourself in serious legal trouble. 

We don’t even need to go so far as to assume nudity to accept that people behave very differently when they think nobody is around to watch them. I believe it was on the show Heroes where a man with the power to be invisible confessed that the experience wasn’t as exciting as one might think. People are flatulent and prone to picking noses and scratching private areas when nobody else is around. Think of the last time you were alone for a few hours. How would you feel knowing that somebody watched that? 

There are simply no perfect solutions to this dilemma other than to not put up babysitter cameras at all, but that undermines the very important objective of preserving your child’s safety. As such, you can minimize the invasion of privacy the best you can in a few ways. The first is to be gender sensitive. If your babysitter is female, the wife should review the footage. If the babysitter is male, the husband should do the reviewing. Your female babysitter isn’t likely to reveal any part of her anatomy your wife isn’t already familiar with.

Another method to minimize impact is to review the footage in fast-forward. Again, it’s a personal, ethical decision. Your babysitter wouldn’t care a lick if she found out that you recorded her every move but had the decency to watch in fast motion. But, at least you will know that you did what you could to minimize the intrusion on her privacy. 

Also ensure the camera is not positioned to record any area where truly private activity is likely to occur. Your bathroom is the most likely vulnerability here. If your babysitter is expected to bathe your children and you feel you must have a wireless surveillance camera in the room to ensure there’s nothing illicit going on, place the camera so that it only faces the tub. If it also records the toilet, you are likely to wind up with some very personal footage of your babysitter and the real risk of criminal prosecution should it be subsequently discovered by him or her. 

Finally, keep it on the down low. While not necessarily legal advice, you should never reveal to your babysitter, your friends or your neighbors that you have been recording his or her activity. Barring any criminal activity which may require you to provide the footage as evidence, letting it get back to your babysitter that you’ve had them under surveillance will, at the very least, cost you a babysitter. At worst, it may land you in court. 

Recording somebody on a wireless surveillance camera puts you on a slippery slope. Despite your parental concerns and your justified interest in protecting your child or your home, the person you’ve invited into your house has rights too. Without sacrificing your need for security and your child’s safety, do the best you can to protect your nanny’s rights as well. You’ll sleep better for it.