Recording without consenting

U

Ualtar

Registered User
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Hi guys,

I rented the spared room in my house. I made a License Agreement as recommended by Threshold and everything was going fine until I started having problems with the guy.

I won't detail the problems because it doesn't matter. When I said I didn't want him in the house anymore, he played in his iPhone a conversation of mine with a friend who was having dinner at my house. Exactly that day he wasn't around. Then he told me that he had been recording conversations of me and people who had been at my house for 2 months. I have been doing online therapy since my parents died at the beginning of the year and maybe he can have recordings of these conversations with my therapist.

I have his confessions in my email and in Tesco's voice mailbox. I've already reported to Garda and on Tuesday I'll make a statement.

What he did is illegal, but I don't know if it falls under Data Protection law. I've searched several places and I can't find anything. Does anybody have any idea what I could do legally against this guy?

Advice are welcomed.
 
Ualtar said:
Advice are welcomed.
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Advice towards achieving what exactly?
What do you wish to do at this stage, now that he's gone?
Has he threatened you or family members, intimating that he may have more recordings, that could cause
other than embarrassment ?

If, none of the above, then personally, (while it is galling) I would just move on and forget about it.
 
SparkRite said:
Has he threatened you or family members, intimating that he may have more recordings, that could cause
other than embarrassment ?
Click to expand...

Yes, he threatened me in an email sent on 28th October. He claims to have other recordings, including conversations between me and my therapist. Garda has already been warned.

I want him to say what was recorded (in the presence of a judge perhaps?) and be forced to delete everything he illegally recorded from me and the people who attended my home.
 
Ualtar said:
Yes, he threatened me in an email sent on 28th October
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Threatened to do what, exactly?
Release the recordings, if so, to who?
With all due respect, who would be interested in listening them?

Look, I'm being devils advocate here, but as I said, besides being maybe somewhat embarrassing what damage can he do ?
Unless there is something you are not telling us here.
 
Not sure whats wrong with Monday.

But either way, if they are bringing criminal charges I'd be worried about too much being said on a public forum
 
SparkRite said:
Threatened to do what, exactly?
Release the recordings, if so, to who?
With all due respect, who would be interested in listening them?

Look, I'm being devils advocate here, but as I said, besides being maybe somewhat embarrassing what damage can he do ?
Unless there is something you are not telling us here.
Click to expand...
I think you are underestimating both the feelings of violation and the harm that could be caused to the OP.
 
SparkRite said:
Threatened to do what, exactly?
Release the recordings, if so, to who?
With all due respect, who would be interested in listening them?

Look, I'm being devils advocate here, but as I said, besides being maybe somewhat embarrassing what damage can he do ?
Unless there is something you are not telling us here.
Click to expand...
He got a protective order from his ex-girlfriend and I witnessed the aggression. I will be her witness in February during the hearing court.
As I said, I will not go into detail here about what happened.

My post is about the illegal recording of very personal things he may have between me and my therapist. I simply don't want him with any recording of me that I didn't consent regardless of what he will do with it.

Does this fall under Data Protection law?
I've already sent them an email and still haven't received a reply. If not, is it a criminal offence? Civil matter? That's the kind of advice I'm looking for.

I appreciate your answers, but I'm not looking for a devil advocate.
 
Ualtar said:
He got a protective order from his ex-girlfriend and I witnessed the aggression. I will be her witness in February during the hearing court.
Click to expand...

Ah so, as I suspected there is more to this than originally posted.


Thirsty said:
I think you are underestimating both the feelings of violation and the harm that could be caused to the OP.
Click to expand...

No I don't think I am, as I already stated
SparkRite said:
(while it is galling)
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But that's all they are, feelings. And we don't know what 'harm', if indeed any, could be caused by the audio recordings. Anyway, the 'plot' thickens.
 
Ualtar said:
he played in his iPhone a conversation of mine with a friend who was having dinner at my house. Exactly that day he wasn't around.
Click to expand...

I would be concerned that there could be recording devices still in the house. If he wasn't there on the day, then how was that conversation recorded? Did you have shared WiFi in the house? If so, change the password on that as soon as possible. Then it's a matter of going around each room to see if there is something that is still capturing conversations.
 
Were the conversations with the therapist in-person or held over the phone? Recordings of phone conversations are protected by the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications (Regulation) Act 1993, breaches can attract pretty hefty fines.

Recoding of conversations can certainly be a Data Protection issue, but it sounds like there's potentially an issue of harassment or threatening behaviour here. Talk to the Gardai and perhaps consult a solicitor, best not divulge too much here in the meantime.
 
Jazz01 said:
Did you have shared WiFi in the house? If so, change the password on that as soon as possible. Then it's a matter of going around each room to see if there is something that is still capturing conversations.
Click to expand...
He had his own internet. He decided not to share it, but after a few weeks having problems with my internet, the Vodafone technical support found out he got my Wi-Fi password accessing my modem settings. I have never changed the password to access it and It is displayed at the bottom of the modem. He had 03 iPhones, 01 MacBook Pro and another device connected and draining my internet speed. I changed all passwords and started monitoring who gained access to my network using Vodafone Gigabox App.

Jazz01 said:
If he wasn't there on the day, then how was that conversation recorded?
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I believe he left one of his iPhones hidden somewhere and with the voice record app activated. I just guess.
One of my neighbour helped me to scan all the house looking for any device left behind. This is why I decided to write the post looking for some advice about what could I do against him for recording my house or maybe still capturing conversations. I cannot force him to tell the true or hand over the recordings. I don't know if falls under Data Protection.
 
Leo said:
Were the conversations with the therapist in-person or held over the phone? Recordings of phone conversations are protected by the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications (Regulation) Act 1993, breaches can attract pretty hefty fines.

Recoding of conversations can certainly be a Data Protection issue, but it sounds like there's potentially an issue of harassment or threatening behaviour here. Talk to the Gardai and perhaps consult a solicitor, best not divulge too much here in the meantime.
Click to expand...

I speak with my therapist using Zoom App.
Thank you Leo. I will speak with Garda tomorrow
 
@Ualtar be very well prepared for your discussion with the gardaí. Write everything down before you go down to your appointment. Specific details, dates / times / events etc., you will be making a statement so be 100% accurate in everything you say...

Best of luck with it all - this is a nightmare to be going through...

Also, with advances in technology, I wouldn't be surprised if you found additional listening (or even image recording) devices. Some of these things are quite small & easily hidden. Personally, I would be going through every square inch of each and every room looking for such devices.
 
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