Maine Recording, Tracking & Surveillance Laws

At a glance

Adult subject — e.g., a spouse

Your own minor child

As a parent you generally have broad authority to monitor your own minor child — especially on a phone, computer, or vehicle you own or provide. The gray area is recording the child's conversations with other people, where wiretap law and the “vicarious consent” doctrine come in and outcomes vary — and if you're co-parenting, custody orders and the other parent's rights matter. Those are marked “seek legal advice.”

General (any subject)

Recording & consent

Maine is a one-party consent state. Under 15 M.R.S. §§ 709–710 you may intercept or record a communication if you're a party or one party consents; intercepting others' communications without consent is a crime. An oral communication is protected only where a person reasonably expects privacy.

Conversations in public with no reasonable expectation of privacy are different. The federal overlay still applies.

Recording law enforcement

Recording on-duty police in public is protected by the First Amendment — Maine sits in the First Circuit, which issued the landmark Glik decision affirming the right — as long as you don't physically interfere. One-party consent means openly recording a public encounter you're part of raises no wiretap problem.

GPS & vehicle tracking

Maine folds tracking into its stalking statute (17-A M.R.S. § 210-A), which expressly covers monitoring, tracking, or surveilling a person “by any action, method, device or means” — including a GPS or a drone. Tracking a vehicle you own is generally fine; secretly tracking someone else can be stalking. Treat non-consensual tracking as a lawyer question.

Private-investigator licensing

Maine requires a state license to work as a professional investigator, under 32 M.R.S. Chapter 89, issued by the Maine State Police (Weapons and Professional Licensing). Applicants must meet experience and examination requirements and pass a background check.

Out-of-state investigator reciprocity

Maine offers reciprocity: if you've held a PI license in another state for at least three years, you may be exempt from Maine's education, experience, and possibly exam requirements — provided that state grants Maine investigators reciprocity and its standards are substantially equivalent. Confirm current terms with the Maine State Police.

Hidden cameras in private areas

Installing or using a recording device where a person reasonably expects to be safe from surveillance — changing rooms, bathrooms, bedrooms, and similar places — is violation of privacy in Maine (17-A M.R.S. § 511). Hidden cameras in private areas are off-limits.

Cameras in your own home / nanny cams

You can put cameras in your own home, including nanny cams in common areas. The limits: don't aim a camera at a space a guest, tenant, or worker would reasonably treat as private (a bathroom, or a live-in caregiver's bedroom) — that risks the § 511 violation-of-privacy statute — and remember audio follows the one-party recording law. Capturing others' private conversations you're not part of can be unlawful.

Doorbell & outdoor cameras

A doorbell or outdoor camera covering your own porch, yard, or the street is fine — no reasonable expectation of privacy in public view. Trouble starts if you point a camera into a neighbor's window or fenced yard, or capture their private conversations. Aim at your property, not through someone else's walls.

Workplace & employee recording

Maine's one-party consent rule applies at work: someone who is part of a conversation may record it. Secretly recording conversations you're not part of, or planting a device, runs into the interception statute. Employers who monitor email or work systems should give clear notice, and federal workplace rules can apply.

Drone surveillance

Maine updated its stalking law to name drones: 17-A M.R.S. § 210-A includes using an unmanned aerial vehicle to follow, monitor, surveil, or harass a person as conduct that can constitute stalking, and the privacy statute (§ 511) bars drone recording in protected private areas. Using a drone to spy on people is prohibited; general flight and filming from public vantage points remain legal. FAA rules govern the airspace.

See an error or an out-of-date citation? Please let us know.

General legal information only, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by reading it. Statutes and their interpretation change; entries may be incomplete or outdated. We disclaim all warranties and any liability for reliance on this page. Confirm the current law at the official Maine Codes and consult a licensed Maine attorney before recording, tracking, installing cameras, or gathering evidence.