Can You Record Public Activities With a GoPro Camera

My question involves vehicle maintenance laws for the State of: CA-USA

i bought a GoPro and a bicycle handle Bar Mount for it & i attached it on there & was riding in bike land when a guy at stop stop said he will call the cops on me for recording his car & not having a sticker in front/side/back saying smile 4 the camera.. & without asking him

Can i have my GoPro set to REC the whole time i am out & about or only hit REC button when something is already going down...

i read the laws about a car?... but the law for that is like 15/20 years old OMG... what a joke

so dose anyone know what my rights would be doing this IN public on side walk ./ bike line ./ street / paking lot///

no i cant afford lawer to ask a non-stupid but vaild question... i am poor & cant seem to type

generally speaking, you can record video any place other than one where a person has an expectation of privacy (think dressing room, their own home, places like that) to record audio, here is the law you need to be concerned with:

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632. (a) Every person who, intentionally and without the consent of all parties to a confidential communication, by means of any electronic amplifying or recording device, eavesdrops upon or records the confidential communication, whether the communication is carried on among the parties in the presence of one another or by means of a telegraph, telephone, or other device, except a radio, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment. If the person has previously been convicted of a violation of this section or Section 631, 632.5, 632.6, 632.7, or 636, the person shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(b) The term "person" includes an individual, business association, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal entity, and an individual acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of any government or subdivision thereof, whether federal, state, or local, but excludes an individual known by all parties to a confidential communication to be overhearing or recording the communication.
(c) The term "confidential communication" includes any communication carried on in circumstances as may reasonably indicate that any party to the communication desires it to be confined to the parties thereto, but excludes a communication made in a public gathering or in any legislative, judicial, executive or administrative proceeding open to the public, or in any other circumstance in which the parties to the communication may reasonably expect that the communication may be overheard or recorded.
(d) Except as proof in an action or prosecution for violation of this section, no evidence obtained as a result of eavesdropping upon or recording a confidential communication in violation of this section shall be admissible in any judicial, administrative, legislative, or other proceeding.
(e) This section does not apply (1) to any public utility engaged in the business of providing communications services and facilities, or to the officers, employees or agents thereof, where the acts otherwise prohibited by this section are for the purpose of construction, maintenance, conduct or operation of the services and facilities of the public utility, or (2) to the use of any instrument, equipment, facility, or service furnished and used pursuant to the tariffs of a public utility, or (3) to any telephonic communication system used for communication exclusively within a state, county, city and county, or city correctional facility.
(f) This section does not apply to the use of hearing aids and similar devices, by persons afflicted with impaired hearing, for the purpose of overcoming the impairment to permit the hearing of sounds ordinarily audible to the human ear.

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as you can read, communications in public GATHERING or in any other situation where the parties may reasonable expect the communication may be overheard or recorded.

How I read that is; even if you are out and about, if a conversation is between you and another party and efforts are made to ensure others cannot hear it, it would be unlawful to record it without their permission. If you are somewhere where there are other people and the other party is talking loudly such that any bystander may be able to hear, you do not need their permission.

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Quoting zoey17

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My question involves vehicle maintenance laws for the State of: CA-USA

i bought a GoPro and a bicycle handle Bar Mount for it & i attached it on there & was riding in bike land when a guy at stop stop said he will call the cops on me for recording his car & not having a sticker in front/side/back saying smile 4 the camera.. & without asking him

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That would likely have been a wasted call as what you did was almost certainly not a crime.

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Can i have my GoPro set to REC the whole time i am out & about or only hit REC button when something is already going down...

i read the laws about a car?... but the law for that is like 15/20 years old OMG... what a joke

so dose anyone know what my rights would be doing this IN public on side walk ./ bike line ./ street / paking lot///

no i cant afford lawer to ask a non-stupid but vaild question... i am poor & cant seem to type

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JK outlined the law pretty well, even copying PC 632. If you are riding about in public, you shouldn't have any legal problem recording.

People have no expectation of privacy while they they are out in public. Taking still and video photographs of people and things that are plainly visible in public spaces is a constitutional right.

ACLU: Your Right to Take Photographs and Make Video and Audio Recordings
http://www.aclupa.org/files/2313/299...raphersweb.pdf

Video is one thing, but, in CA the audio recording MIGHT be a problem in some situations. However, as it is a Go Pro and not being used to snoop on otherwise private conversations, it shouldn't be an issue.

I would take the video to the local police. He may be a wanted fugitive who just moved to the area.

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Quoting Disagreeable

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I would take the video to the local police. He may be a wanted fugitive who just moved to the area.

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I doubt the police will bother to do much at all with it. And unless he is known to the local agency, they aren't going to spend time researching it. Unlike TV, the local cops don't tend to have a desktop system to plug in pictures to access some sort of facial recognition.