Are Nanny Cams Legal?

When you hire a nanny or babysitter to work in your home, you become an employer and your home becomes a workplace. In a typical work environment, though, there is- at the very least- some supervision, if not extended or constant surveillance. Your nanny is working unsupervised and completely under your trust that she is doing her job properly. Hopefully, you have done enough checking and re-checking to be sure your nanny can be trusted. It is sad to say, though, that the mistakes of other nannies have limited the amount we trust our children in the care of another.

As you would with any other employee, you are entitled to monitor your nanny or babysitter to be sure she is working effectively. The desire is increased when you add your child’s safety to the mix. You may be able to tolerate a housekeeper watching television rather than vacuuming; but if your nanny is neglecting your child, you want to be aware of it and take necessary action. Before you install a hidden nanny cam in your home, you may have a few concerns about privacy and legal matters.

In our soceity of freedoms-in-overkill, the legalities of constantly monitoring a person can be taken into question. However, as it is in a typical workplace, hidden cameras (whether or not the employee is aware of it) are completely legal. Though it has been contested, courts have decided that a person does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy while working and, therefore, should have no legal obejection to surveillance. The only stipulation placed on surveillance is the disallowance of audio recording, and then only in fifteen states- California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

In summary, you should treat your relationship to your nanny as employer-employee. Offer a formal application when seeking out a nanny, complete with references. Be sure you thoroughly check each reference before hiring, and consider investing in a background check. If the relationship is as a business from the beginning, it will feel much more natural to monitor your home with a nanny cam.