The Video Voyeurism Prevention Act: A Legal Primer

No matter what the circumstances, it is never right to videotape, record, or take pictures of someone without their knowledge or consent. Think about this. You are at home. You think you can sing to your dog and dance the Macarena in your kitchen without anyone looking. You've taken showers, shaved your legs, and used the bathroom in what you thought was your private sanctuary. Then one day, you found out that someone had been recording every last thing you did. Every last word you said and every last private moment had been exposed by the monster who did it to you.

Sometimes we hear of cases where a stranger put a camera in a ladies' shower room or in a college dormitory. Sometimes the perpetrator is someone the victim knows. A partner that the victim has known for years can be found to have been watching them way beyond the boundaries of normal for most or all of their time together. Whoever the perpetrator is, it's wrong to do that to someone. Congress agreed. That's why the Video Voyeurism Prevention Act was proposed and enacted.

There are seven versions of this bill. It is Bill Number S.1301 for the 108th Congress. The first was introduced in 2003 and the seventh on January 20, 2004 was enrolled as agreed to or passed by both House and Senate.

This act prohibits video voyeurism in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. Basically what this bill protects victims against is anyone having the intent to capture an improper image of them and knowingly does so under circumstances that violate the privacy of that person.

This means using videotapes, photographs, and films. This also includes recordings by any electronic means. An example of this would be recording your phone calls or any other private conversations. An improper image, with respect to an individual, means an image captured without the consent of that individual. This improper image would include naked or undergarment clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breast. Sometimes the perpetrator electronically transmits the visual images with the intent that they be viewed by someone else.

We expect all of our private moments to be private. A video voyeur destroys that security.

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