What are my son's privacy rights after being filmed in the school bathroom?

Full question:

My son is in ninth grade. He was using the school bathroom last week and looked up to see a boy with a school video camera attempting to film him. Another boy was with this kid with the camera. My son reported this incident to his high school vice principal. There were also two witnesses who saw the boys with the camera, one who walked into the bathroom during the incident and another who claimed that he saw the boys with the camera in the hallway after the incident. The vice-principal told me she was trying to find the boys on the school computer and when she found them that she would 'prosecute them.' Later, when I telephoned her, she told me that only one boy had been apprehended and that nothing was on the camera. She told me that the boy who used the camera had been signed out of school by his parents and would be home-schooled for the rest of the year. This did not sit well with me and I contacted the local police and filed a complaint. In an e-mail I later received from the principal of the school, I was informed that the camera used was not a school camera but a cell phone camera and that the boy had been 'pretending to take pictures' of my son. My son saw the camera and he told me it was a school camera which is used by the high school video club to record special events. There was an event for area senior citizens held at the high school that morning. Furthermore, I just happened to be there in the office that morning waiting to take my son to a doctor's appointment and I spoke to one of the witnesses who told me there were two boys with a video camera standing outside the bathroom after the incident. The principal's e-mail further informed me that after speaking with our local police it was determine that because there were allegedly no pictures taken there is nothing they can do. I feel that my son's privacy rights were violated. I also believe that there is a federal law against unlawful video-taping of an individual in a private or intimate setting called the Video Voyeur Protection Act passed in 2004. Any advice or additional information you can provide to me will be greatly appreciated! Thank You!

  • Category: Privacy
  • Date:
  • State: New Jersey

Answer:

The Video Voyeur Protection Act states that it applies to an image ‘broadcast’, which means electronically transmitting a visual image with the intent for others to view it. Invasion of privacy involves intruding into someone’s personal life without just cause, allowing the affected person to potentially sue for damages. This includes various forms of privacy violations, such as workplace monitoring and unauthorized data collection. A non-public individual has the right to privacy from: a) intrusion into their solitude or private affairs; b) public disclosure of embarrassing private information; c) publicity that puts them in a false light; and d) appropriation of their name or image for personal or commercial gain. For more information, users can search for state-specific legal templates at .

This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.

FAQs

The Video Voyeur Protection Act is a federal law that prohibits the unauthorized video recording of individuals in private settings, such as bathrooms. It specifically targets the act of broadcasting or transmitting visual images with the intent for others to view them. Violations can lead to legal consequences, including civil lawsuits for damages. It's important to understand that the act applies only if images are captured and distributed without consent. If no images were taken, as in your case, enforcement may be limited. *Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.*