After a brief delay, House Bill 1115 received final passage by the Colorado House of Representatives on third reading Tuesday.
The bill was originally intended to address the issue of privacy being invaded by aerial drones. Unfortunately, instead of regulating drones, the bill was revised to the point of making the every day act of taking a photograph or making an audio recording by use of any device a crime.
HB 1115 would make a criminal out of anyone who “knowingly and intentionally captures any photograph, sound recording or other physical or digital image of another person, without that person’s consent, in a situation where that person has a reasonable expectation of privacy ... ”
There is nothing in the bill’s language requiring malice.
As technological advances continue to be made, and the use of drones increases, there is certainly a concern for privacy. That right to privacy should be protected, but this bill’s language doesn’t provide clear definition as to what the “reasonable expectation of privacy” might be.
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