Q.  I live in a six-apartment condo building. Two of the residents have decided on their own without contacting the board or other residents to put cameras outside the doors to their units on two different floors. Is that legal for them to do? It seems like an invasion of everyone’s privacy. 

                                         —Feeling Exposed

A. “Before we get into the question of privacy, one of the things we should look at is the condominium’s governing documents,” says Norman F. Orban, partner at Allcock & Marcus law firm in Braintree, Massachusetts. “If the places the cameras are mounted on are common areas, then Board approval would almost certainly have been required regardless of the potential privacy implications. However, assuming that board approval has occurred or is not necessary concerning the placement of the cameras, it becomes a question of notice or expectation of privacy and whether the cameras are also recording audio.

 “When it comes to video recordings, the question comes down to what a person’s expectations of privacy are. In this scenario, it’s a video recording in common areas; while there is a degree of privacy in the hallways as one is not exposed to the outside world, you are ultimately in a common space where anyone in the building could observe you at that time, and under the circumstances there is no expectation of privacy in a common area hallway that would prevent someone from having a camera. That being said, should these cameras be able see inside a unit, it changes the analysis and creates an argument that this would be a privacy violation, as one clearly has a right to privacy in their unit.

 “As to audio recording, the law is a little different. Generally, you may not ‘secretly’ record another person. The key is that the audio recording cannot be secret. If it is clear that a recording is taking place, that is all that matters; it does not matter if consent is not given, only that you are on notice of the recording. 

“There is at least one case which suggests that the sight of a security camera alone gives one enough knowledge to know they may be being recorded. Should there be some type of clear signage also saying this there would be no violation or the law or one’s privacy.”