New York Penal Law article 250 (eavesdropping and surveillance offences)
Law. Placed at New York. Read 30 Sep 2026; 4 provisions cited by the planner.
What does NY Penal Law 250.65, 250.45 and 250.05 require?
Sections 250.45 to 250.60 do not apply to law enforcement personnel on authorised duties, to a security system announced by a prominent written notice on the premises saying video surveillance has been installed for security, or to video devices fitted so that anyone can see them at once. Also cited: s 250.45(3), do not install or use an imaging device to surreptitiously view or record people in bedrooms, changing rooms, fitting rooms, restrooms, toilets, bathrooms, washrooms, showers or guest rooms; s 250.45, do not surreptitiously view, broadcast or record a person dressing or undressing or their intimate parts without consent.
NY Penal Law s 250.65Security video is outside the surveillance offences only with a conspicuous posted notice or clearly obvious cameras Sections 250.45 to 250.60 do not apply to law enforcement personnel on authorised duties, to a security system announced by a prominent written notice on the premises saying video surveillance has been installed for security, or to video devices fitted so that anyone can see them at once. The compliance duty for any business running security cameras is therefore a posted notice at the premises or plainly visible cameras, and never coverage of the rooms listed in 250.45(3). For the dissemination offences the obscenity-law provisions of sections 235.15(2) and 235.24(1) and (2) apply.
NY Penal Law s 250.45(3)Do not install or use an imaging device to surreptitiously view or record people in bedrooms, changing rooms, fitting rooms, restrooms, toilets, bathrooms, washrooms, showers or guest rooms Deliberately using or fitting an imaging device to covertly watch, broadcast or record someone in a bedroom, changing room, fitting room, restroom, toilet, bathroom, washroom or shower, or in a room assigned to a guest at a hotel, motel or inn, without that person's knowledge or agreement, is the second-degree offence. There is a rebuttable presumption that the actor had no legitimate purpose.
NY Penal Law s 250.45Do not surreptitiously view, broadcast or record a person dressing or undressing or their intimate parts without consent The second-degree offence (class E felony) includes covertly viewing, broadcasting or recording, with an imaging device one uses or installs, a person who is dressing or undressing or that person's intimate parts, in a protected setting and without their knowledge or agreement, for amusement, entertainment or profit, to degrade or abuse, or for sexual arousal or gratification; recording under a person's clothing without consent; and recording in an identifiable manner a person engaged in sexual conduct in a place of reasonable privacy without consent.
NY Penal Law s 250.05Do not wiretap, mechanically overhear a conversation or intercept electronic communications without a party's consent or a warrant A person who, without lawful authority, wiretaps, mechanically overhears a conversation, or intercepts or accesses electronic communications commits eavesdropping, a class E felony. For a business this means call recording, meeting capture, voicemail and email monitoring and network interception are lawful only where at least one party (for conversations) or the sender or receiver (for telephone and electronic communications) has consented, or an eavesdropping warrant authorises it.