KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
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CS asks advice on audio and video laws /Liability issues Regarding Fire Alarm Panels Part 3/ ISC Meetings
October 9, 2024
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Schedule your free private meeting with KK at ISC East
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If you're interested in a private [yes, it's free] meeting at ISC East [we will be meeting just outside the exhibit hall] please contact Stacy Spector,Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304 or SSpector@Kirschenbaumesq.com. Concierge Clients will have priority.
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CS asks advice on audio and video laws
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Ken,
I am the I.T. Director at Quick Response, an Ohio-based wholesale Central Station. While discussing TMA’s AVS-01 we had a few questions about Video Monitoring that will also apply directly to businesses and residences that utilize video surveillance. With the advent of many municipalities requiring additional information/evidence before dispatching officers, video surveillance is going to grow significantly in the security industry, we thought it may be beneficial to get ahead of these questions.
Ohio is a one-party consent state for audio recording. Does that protection apply from visible exterior devices such as RING cameras, or other visible exterior security cameras? For example, if a homeowner’s visible porch camera picks up a conversation of pedestrians on a public sidewalk, does that run them afoul of Ohio’s wiretapping laws? What if the conversation is in a parked vehicle with the windows down, or a close neighbor’s porch?
How far does the expectation of privacy extend for audio from video surveillance?
From a Central Station point of view, should we require no audio for such monitored devices to avoid any legal issues?
We appreciate your input, and contribution of knowledge you provide the security industry.
Thank-you,
Ben Loudermill
BenL@Quickresponse.net
800-233-9500 Ext. 3354
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Response
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These are tricky questions. With a one party state only one party to the conversation needs to consent. Two people at the front door, walking by or in a car, have not consented and no one else is a party to that conversation who could give consent. You cannot listen in or record that conversation using mechanical means. Arguably people chatting in the street or approaching a front door may be considered in a public place where they have no expectation or right to privacy. We don’t see cases dealing with this because most likely not one conversation has been juicy enough to merit a lawsuit. Two executives from coco cola won’t be chatting up the secret recipe in public and if they did and someone heard or recorded it using mechanical means and used the information there could and would be a lawsuit or arrest.
When you think about whether surveillance is proper I think you have to consider in what context. Are you intercepting the information for personal gain? To cause embarrassment? To defame or hurt those intercepted? Because if you’re going to take it home and have a good laugh then it likely stops there and there won’t be a lawsuit.
Video laws are different than audio. In at least one state that comes to mind you cannot take a photo of another without consent and use it for economic commercial gain. Unless it’s a newsworthy event and the news is podcasting it as news you can’t use it. You can’t be videoed or have your image captured or replicated and find it on a cereal box or advertisement for product; that’s ripe for a lawsuit.
Video and audio laws are criminal in nature and prosecution rights belong to the State, not you. Civil actions will require some injury. So video doesn’t have the same issue of expectation of privacy; your image cannot be used by another unless it’s a legitimate news event, and even then it can’t be used for commercial gain.
Every scenario needs to be considered,, so keep my number handy and if you call more than once you’ll be sorry if you haven’t joined the Concierge Program.
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Liability issues Regarding Fire Alarm Panels Part 3
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Several surge suppression companies on the web have cited NEC code article 230.67, as a moral obligation. Type 1, or a Type 2 surge suppressor is not enough for fire alarms. It is an expensive sophisticated computer with little or no protection as stipulated by UL testing (AC 3000V @ 500 amps & low voltage 1000V at 10 amps). I can say before the switch mode power supply where introduced there was the linear power supply, & this product provided a high degree of impedance pathway with a 1” or some kind of air gape of isolation on primary from secondary phase & natural.
However, todays power supplies of most if not all fire alarms are the switch mode diode array power supply that provides a direct metallic pathway for lightning to literally fly through with no impeding pathway. To me all insurance companies should be (coined) alarmed about this. The speed of these components blows out the fire alarm panel faster than speed of any parallel type 1 or type 2 surge suppression of any name brand actually reacts. If the use of cheap lightning arrestors is installed as an argument to replace what was called for the specification of type 1, or type 2 suppression is a clear violation & they do nothing at all. The problem is, they have a UL sticker on there, & anyone of authority knows the difference? My argument is simple, we have a very expensive computer hanging on the wall with all kinds of network wires going all over the place to save the end-users life, not to mention innocent dwellers only to invite lightning into the system somehow, & traditionally we as end-users all agree there is a high degree of protection given with standalone computers that cost far less at your workstation. All fire alarm companies I have spoken to agree that there is a complete lack of respect by end-users for fire alarms (until they need it). Where have our wisdom failed us? So, don’t be a Frenegi (https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Ferengi ). It is alright to be stingy, but let’s be smart about this, always have a legal document to protect yourself. I cannot tell you how many times a dealer that has contacted me regarding lightning issues tell me, that the end-user is blaming them for the lightning damage. I know you are going to say this, even with a signed contract. These contracts will prevent litigation. A signed document will protect you of any miss-haps of the future. The use of surge suppression after the fact is much easier to install for profit. The best contract is 3 to 5 years instead of year to year to me is common sense. (https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-contract). Ken, hank you for your permission, Ken at Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum P.C. Attorneys at Law. They have all kinds of contracts for security companies in every area. You can personally e-mail Kin at ken@kirschenbaumesq.com
John Pecore, BSEET, MBA,
Stormin Protection Products Inc
www.firealarmprotection.com
Power Quality Engineer in the Life Safety Industry
889 NE County Road 225
Lawtey FL. 32058
727-823-6100 x 1
Jpecore@earthlink.net
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Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq
Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC
Attorneys at Law
200 Garden City Plaza
Garden City, NY 11530
516 747 6700 x 301
ken@kirschenbaumesq.com
www.KirschenbaumEsq.com