Understanding Maryland’s New Visual Surveillance Law

There is a new law in Maryland, since October 2025, which substantially revised our State’s criminal statute governing invasive visual surveillance — especially as it applies to privacy in homes.

Under prior Maryland law, visual surveillance that involved a prurient intent was already prohibited using cameras or similar devices to observe individuals without consent, in physical spaces where they would reasonably expect privacy. The new law expands the definition of “private place” to include one’s residence or other places of private use or accommodation. This means that even if someone isn’t in a traditional “private place” (like a bathroom or locker room), the new law now protects private spaces such as homes where individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

The new law also clarifies that non-consensual visual surveillance of a person’s private spaces using a camera is prohibited, regardless of where the individual is located — emphasizing the protection of personal privacy beyond just specific places.

The new law modernizes the statute to ensure that homes and similar private locations are recognized as protected spaces, and that a person’s reasonable expectation of privacy is upheld even when they are not in the previously narrowly defined private areas.

By affirming that unlawful visual surveillance of private areas is prohibited regardless of their location, this new law makes it easier for prosecutors to pursue charges in a wider range of circumstances when someone uses technology to invade a person’s privacy.