With reference to electronic surveillance, the law in most states simply doesn't allow the electronic interception of private conversations, i.e. voice recordings. However, no criminal laws exists to stop someone who is not an agent of the government from secretly taking pictures or video-tapes of other people if they don't record voices. Indeed, only the police have to get approval from a judge to videotape a citizen's activities. A security guard, on the other hand, can videotape you without permission from anyone, though there are civil laws that prohibit videotaping in certain situations.