Existing law prohibits tapping a communication wire or intercepting or recording a telephone communication, as specified, without the consent of all parties, and prohibits trespassing on property for the purpose of committing, or attempting to commit, a violation of those prohibitions. A violation of those provisions is punishable by a fine not exceeding $2,500, by imprisonment as either a misdemeanor or a felony, or by both the fine and imprisonment, unless otherwise exempted. If that person has previously been convicted of a violation of any of the above-described laws, except for the prohibition on trespassing, a violation of any of those provisions is punishable by a fine not exceeding $10,000, by imprisonment as either a misdemeanor or a felony, or by both the fine and imprisonment.

This bill would additionally prohibit a person from operating a wearable recording device, as defined, to capture sound or video of any other person in any area within a place of business, as defined, where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy unless the person operating the device has the explicit consent of that person to capture sound or video of that person. The bill would prohibit a person from disabling any light or other device on a wearable recording device that indicates that the device is capturing sound or video. The bill would prohibit a person or entity from manufacturing, selling, delivering, holding, or offering for sale in commerce any technology that enables a person to disable any light or other device on a wearable recording device that indicates that the device is capturing sound or video and would prohibit a person from purchasing, trading for, otherwise acquiring, or using that technology, as specified.

The bill would make a violation of these provisions punishable by a fine not exceeding $2,500, by imprisonment as either a misdemeanor or a felony, or by both the fine and imprisonment. If that person has previously been convicted of a violation of any of the prohibitions described above, the bill would make a violation of these provisions punishable by a fine not exceeding $10,000, by imprisonment as either a misdemeanor or a felony, or by both the fine and imprisonment. The bill would make a violation of the prohibitions in this bill applicable to the enhanced fine for a subsequent violation of any of the prohibitions described above, except for the prohibition on trespassing, and would make the exemptions from the provisions described above applicable to violations of the bill’s prohibitions.