Another statute comes closer to addressing your concern. Adopted in 1969, the Eavesdropping Statute (Connecticut General Statutes §§ 53a-187 through 53a-189) provides that “a person is guilty of eavesdropping when he unlawfully engages in wiretapping or mechanical overhearing of a conversation.” The statute excludes wiretapping by criminal law enforcement officials in the lawful performance of their duties.

In Connecticut, we have an “eavesdropping” statute that protects persons’ privacy, but only to a degree. Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-187 provides that “a person is guilty of eavesdropping when he unlawfully engages in wiretapping or mechanical overhearing of a conversation.” However, the statute goes on to define “Mechanical overhearing of a conversation” as the “intentional overhearing or recording of a conversation or discussion, without the consent of at least one party thereto, by a person not present thereat, by means of any instrument, device or equipment.”

It defines eavesdropping as including wiretapping as well as “mechanical overhearing of a conversation,” which the statute defines as “the intentional overhearing or recording of a conversation or discussion, without the consent of at least one party thereto, by a person not present thereat, by means of any instrument, device or equipment.” Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-187. Notably, this parent’s rude recording of people without their knowledge was not “eavesdropping” because the person making the recording was present and consented to the recording.

In Connecticut: It’s illegal (a class D felony) to record (or overhear using any device) a phone conversation of which you’re neither the sender nor receiver, without the consent of either the sender or the receiver. See Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 53a-187 through 53a-189. It’s illegal (an unclassified misdemeanor) for an employer to monitor (audio or video) employees in areas designed for their personal comfort or for safeguarding their possessions, such as rest rooms, locker rooms or lounges.