Secret Filming and Hidden Cameras on a Date: What the Voyeurism Offences Cover in England and Wales and in Scotland

Meeting someone from a dating app often means spending time in private places such as a home, a hotel or a rented room. A hidden camera or a secret recording in those settings can be a criminal offence. This guide summarises the voyeurism offences in section 67 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which applies in England and Wales, and in section 9 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, based on the text on legislation.gov.uk. The two nations’ offences differ in important ways. It does not cover Northern Ireland, and it is general information, not legal advice.

England and Wales: section 67

Section 67 of the 2003 Act creates several offences. A person commits an offence if, for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, they:

observe another person doing a private act, knowing the other person does not consent to being observed for their sexual gratification;
operate equipment with the intention of enabling another person to observe a third person doing a private act for that purpose, knowing the third person does not consent;
record another person doing a private act, intending that they or a third person will look at the image for sexual gratification, knowing the person does not consent to the recording; or
install equipment, or construct or adapt a structure or part of one, intending to enable themselves or another person to observe a private act.

Section 67 sets the maximum penalty at up to six months’ imprisonment or a fine on summary conviction, or up to two years’ imprisonment on conviction on indictment.

What counts as a private act

Section 68 defines a private act for these offences. A person is doing a private act if they are in a place which, in the circumstances, would reasonably be expected to provide privacy, and:

their genitals, buttocks or breasts are exposed or covered only with underwear;
they are using a lavatory; or
they are doing a sexual act that is not of a kind ordinarily done in public.

The section adds that operating equipment includes enabling or securing its activation by another person without that person’s knowledge, and that “structure” includes a tent, vehicle, vessel or other temporary or movable structure.

England and Wales: section 67A

Section 67A adds offences that do not depend on a private act. They cover operating equipment beneath a person’s clothing to observe, or recording an image beneath clothing of, their genitals or buttocks (whether exposed or covered with underwear) or the underwear covering them, in circumstances where these would not otherwise be visible, without consent and without reasonably believing there is consent. Related offences cover observing or recording another person while breast-feeding a child. The purposes listed are obtaining sexual gratification, or humiliating, alarming or distressing the person.

Scotland: section 9

Scotland’s offence of voyeurism is set out in section 9 of the 2009 Act, and it is framed differently. Each version requires that the other person did not consent and that the accused had no reasonable belief that they consented. The section covers:

observing another person doing a private act;
operating equipment to enable that person to be observed doing a private act;
recording a private act, intending that it be looked at;
operating equipment or recording an image beneath clothing of genitals, buttocks or the underwear covering them, where they would not otherwise be visible; and
installing equipment, or constructing or adapting a structure, to enable any of these acts.

The Scottish purposes are broader than those in section 67 for England and Wales. They are obtaining sexual gratification, or humiliating, distressing or alarming the person. Section 10 defines a private act in the same terms as section 68 in England and Wales, and provides that operating equipment includes enabling its activation by another person without their knowledge.

What this means around dates

A hidden camera in a bedroom or bathroom can fall within the installation and recording provisions, depending on the purpose and on whether the person would reasonably expect privacy.
Secretly recording sexual activity is caught by the recording offences, subject to the purpose and consent elements set out in each section.

The legislation sets out offences, and whether one has been committed depends on the facts and the evidence. Anyone who discovers hidden equipment or a covert recording can contact the police and can keep evidence by following the site’s guide to documenting and reporting suspicious dating behaviour. Where a recording is then shared, the site’s guide to intimate images shared without consent covers those offences and removal.

Frequently asked questions

Does the offence apply if the recording is never shared?

Under the recording offences in England and Wales, the offence relates to recording with the intention that the image will be looked at for sexual gratification, and in Scotland to recording with the intention that it be looked at for sexual gratification or to humiliate, distress or alarm. Sharing is not an element in the text of either offence.

Are the offences the same across the UK?

No. England and Wales use section 67 of the 2003 Act, with its own list of purposes, while Scotland uses section 9 of the 2009 Act. Northern Ireland has its own law, which this guide does not cover.

The bottom line

In England and Wales and in Scotland, secretly observing or recording someone doing a private act, or installing or operating equipment to do so, can be a voyeurism offence, and both nations also address recordings beneath clothing. The purposes and wording differ by nation, and the outcome depends on the facts. Anyone who suspects secret filming should preserve evidence and contact the police.