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I agree with you, first off.
Also, I have no idea what the laws are like in Canada or anywhere else outside of the US.
That having been said…
Recording Video in Public Places
Recording video in public is generally permissible in places like public parks, city streets, and sidewalks, where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. This means that if something is visible to the naked eye in a public space, you can record it. This principle extends to filming government buildings and the actions of public officials, like police officers, performing their duties in public.
This right does not extend into areas that, while publicly accessible, are considered private. The key determinant is the “reasonable expectation of privacy,” meaning you cannot use technology to see through the walls of a private home from a public street. The legal framework protects what people can plainly see, not what can be captured with invasive technology.
The Legality of Recording Audio
Capturing audio is governed by stricter laws than recording video alone, due to federal and state wiretapping statutes. The federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), often called the Wiretap Act, makes it illegal to intentionally intercept any wire, oral, or electronic communication. A violation of this act can lead to both criminal penalties and civil lawsuits.
The federal law, and the laws in a majority of states, operate under a “one-party consent” rule. This means you can legally record a conversation if you are a party to that conversation, as your participation implies your own consent. Most states and the District of Columbia follow this standard.
A number of states, however, have enacted more stringent “all-party consent” laws. In these jurisdictions, you must obtain permission from everyone involved in a private conversation to legally record it. States with all-party consent laws include:
- California
- Florida
- Pennsylvania
- Washington
If a conversation involves participants in different states, the best practice is to adhere to the strictest applicable law, which is the all-party consent rule.
Source: https://legalclarity.org/are-camera-glasses-legal-video-and-audio-recording-laws/
Obligatory: I'm not a lawyer.
It seems to me like, at least most places in the U.S., the fact that it records video is a non-issue while in public, at least in the legal sense, but also like the fact that it records audio could very easily make it illegal in public.
