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Idaho Voyeurism Laws: Hidden Cameras, Privacy Violations, and Penalties (2026)

Independently fact-checkedEditor-reviewedLaw current as of November 1, 2026By Recording Law Editorial TeamReviewed November 2, 202612 min read

Independently fact-checked against primary sources (last audited November 1, 2026). · Reviewed by the RecordingLaw editorial team. · Law checked current as of November 1, 2026. · 8 primary sources cited on this page. How we verify our legal content

Idaho Voyeurism Laws: Hidden Cameras, Privacy Violations, and Penalties (2026)

Idaho criminalizes video voyeurism under Idaho Code 18-6605, making it illegal to use or install an imaging device in a private space without the person's knowledge or consent when it is done with a sexual purpose, such as arousing or gratifying sexual desire, or to sexually degrade or abuse someone. Any violation is a felony, with no misdemeanor first-offense tier. The same statute, at subsection (3), also prohibits sharing, publishing, or selling intimate images without consent to harass, humiliate, or degrade the person shown, commonly called revenge porn.

Idaho takes privacy violations through hidden cameras and secret recording seriously. The state's voyeurism laws target individuals who use cameras, video recorders, smartphones, or other imaging devices to secretly observe or record people in private settings without their consent. These statutes protect personal privacy in locations like bathrooms, bedrooms, locker rooms, and dressing rooms where people reasonably expect not to be watched or filmed.

This page provides a complete overview of Idaho's voyeurism and privacy invasion laws, including what conduct is prohibited, how penalties are structured, related offenses like nonconsensual pornography, defenses to charges, and how victims can pursue legal remedies.

Idaho Code 18-6605: Video Voyeurism

What the Statute Prohibits

Idaho Code 18-6605 is Idaho's primary video voyeurism statute. It makes it a crime to use any camera, video camera, or other electronic imaging device to:

Secretly recording someone without consent where they expect privacy, for a sexual or degrading purpose, is a felony in Idaho with up to 5 years prison and a fine of up to $50,000.
Idaho treats every video voyeurism offense as a felony. It requires secret recording in a private place and a sexual or degrading purpose.

Secretly observe or record another person without their knowledge or consent in any location where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. This includes installing hidden cameras and using devices with zoom or magnification capabilities to observe private areas from a distance.

This prong, subsection (2), also has an intent element: the person must act with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying their own or another person's lust, passions, or sexual desires, for lascivious entertainment or to satisfy prurient interest, or for the purpose of sexually degrading or abusing another person. Secret recording in a private place without that purpose does not fit subsection (2), although other laws may still apply.

Do the same in a public place where a person has taken reasonable steps to cover their intimate areas, using a device designed to get past that covering. The same sexual or degrading purpose is required. The statute defines "intimate areas" as the nude genitals, nude pubic area, nude buttocks, or nude female nipple.

Share, publish, or sell, or threaten to share, an image of an identifiable person whose intimate areas are exposed or who is engaged in a sexual act, with intent to annoy, harass, humiliate, intimidate, or degrade them, when the sharer knew or should have known the person expected it to stay private and did not consent (subsection (3), covered below). Sharing by social media, messaging apps, email, websites, or any other means counts.

Where Privacy Expectations Exist

The statute's protections apply in locations where a person has a "reasonable expectation of privacy." Idaho courts evaluate this standard based on what a reasonable person would expect in the same circumstances. Locations that consistently qualify include:

  • Bathrooms and restrooms in homes, businesses, schools, and public buildings
  • Locker rooms at gyms, pools, schools, and athletic facilities
  • Changing rooms and dressing rooms in retail stores, theaters, and performance venues
  • Bedrooms in homes, hotels, motels, and other lodging
  • Medical examination rooms in hospitals, clinics, and doctors' offices
  • Tanning rooms and spa facilities
  • Enclosed shower areas

The common thread is that these are spaces where people undress, engage in intimate activities, or otherwise expose their bodies with the expectation that they will not be observed or recorded.

How Hidden Camera Cases Typically Arise

Video voyeurism cases in Idaho commonly involve:

Hidden cameras in residential settings. Landlords, roommates, or romantic partners placing concealed cameras in bathrooms, bedrooms, or other private areas of a shared living space.

Workplace hidden cameras. Employers or coworkers installing cameras in restrooms, changing areas, or break rooms where employees have privacy expectations.

Retail and commercial settings. Cameras concealed in dressing rooms, fitting rooms, or restrooms at businesses open to the public.

"Upskirting" and "downblousing." Using a camera or phone held at unusual angles to capture images under a person's clothing or down their shirt in public places. Idaho Code 18-6605 can reach this conduct even when it occurs in public, because its definition of a private place includes a public place where a person has taken reasonable steps to conceal intimate areas; the sexual-intent element of subsection (2) still applies.

Technology-assisted voyeurism. Using drone cameras, telephoto lenses, or remote-access devices to observe people in private settings from outside the location.

Criminal Penalties for Video Voyeurism

Idaho a dome security camera in the corner of an office ceiling, soft interior daylight

Felony Classification

Idaho Code 18-6605(4) makes any violation of the statute a felony; there is no misdemeanor first-offense tier and no second-or-subsequent-offense escalation built into the statute's text. Because Section 18-6605 does not set its own sentencing range, Idaho's general felony punishment statute (Idaho Code 18-112) applies:

PenaltyMaximum
Prison timeUp to 5 years in state prison
FineUp to $50,000

The court may impose imprisonment, a fine, or both. The felony classification carries significant collateral consequences beyond the prison sentence and fine, including a permanent criminal record, sex offender registration when the victim was a minor or on a second conviction, suspension of the right to vote through imprisonment, probation, and parole until final discharge (Idaho Code 18-310), and restrictions on employment and professional licensing.

Aggravating Facts Prosecutors May Point To

Idaho Code 18-6605 itself does not create separate statutory tiers based on the following facts, but they can support additional or related charges, or influence sentencing within the felony range:

  • Minor victims. When the victim is under 18 years of age, prosecutors may pursue additional charges or seek a harsher sentence within the felony range.
  • Position of trust. When the offender is in a position of authority over the victim (employer, teacher, landlord, caregiver), courts may view the conduct as more egregious.
  • Commercial exploitation. When voyeuristic images are sold, traded, or used for commercial purposes.
  • Multiple victims. When the offender has targeted multiple individuals.
  • Pattern of behavior. When evidence shows the conduct was part of an ongoing scheme rather than an isolated incident.

Sharing or Disseminating Voyeuristic Images

Person in a grey hooded jacket seen from behind holding a phone up toward a wet city street with pedestrians

Idaho Code 18-6605 also criminalizes the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images, sometimes called revenge porn. This is not a separate statute. It is subsection (3) of the same video voyeurism law described above, and it carries the same felony classification, with no misdemeanor tier.

What the Dissemination Prong Covers

Under Idaho Code 18-6605(3), it is a crime, with the intent to annoy, terrify, threaten, intimidate, harass, offend, humiliate, or degrade, to intentionally disseminate, publish, or sell, or to threaten or conspire to disseminate, publish, or sell, an image of an identifiable person whose intimate areas are exposed or who is engaged in a sexual act, when the sharer knew or reasonably should have known that the person depicted expected the image to remain private and did not consent to its dissemination. This applies whether the image was originally obtained through voyeurism or through a previously consensual relationship. A 2026 amendment (House Bill 727, Idaho Session Laws ch. 121, effective July 1, 2026) added the threat language: before that date, only actual dissemination or conspiring to disseminate was covered, not a bare threat to do so.

Penalties

Like the rest of Idaho Code 18-6605, the dissemination offense is a felony with no misdemeanor first-offense tier. Because the statute sets no sentencing range of its own, Idaho's general felony punishment statute (Idaho Code 18-112) applies: up to 5 years in state prison and/or a fine of up to $50,000.

Exemptions

Idaho Code 18-6605(5) exempts:

  • Interactive computer, information, and telecommunication services for content provided by another person, unless the provider intentionally aids or abets video voyeurism
  • Images involving voluntary exposure in public or commercial settings
  • Disclosures made in the public interest, including reporting of unlawful conduct or the lawful practices of law enforcement, criminal reporting, legal proceedings, or medical treatment

Relationship Between Voyeurism and Wiretapping Laws

Idaho wooden gavel on a sound block on a judge bench

Idaho's voyeurism statute (Idaho Code 18-6605) and its wiretapping statute (Idaho Code 18-6702) address different aspects of privacy but can overlap in certain situations.

Visual vs. Audio Recording

Idaho Code 18-6605 addresses visual privacy violations involving cameras and imaging devices. Idaho Code 18-6702 addresses audio privacy violations involving the interception of wire, oral, and electronic communications.

When a hidden camera captures both video and audio, both statutes may apply. The voyeurism charge covers the visual component, while a wiretapping charge may apply to any audio intercepted without proper consent.

For audio recording, Idaho follows a one-party consent standard. You can record conversations you participate in. For visual recording in private spaces, being a participant in a conversation is not a defense: secretly filming someone in a bathroom, bedroom, or other private location without their knowledge or consent is a felony under Idaho Code 18-6605 when it is done for a sexual purpose or to sexually degrade or abuse them.

Potential for Dual Charges

A single act of hidden camera placement can result in charges under both statutes if the device captures both video in a private space, made with the purpose 18-6605 requires (voyeurism), and audio of private conversations (wiretapping). Prosecutors may file charges under one or both statutes depending on the circumstances.

Civil Remedies for Voyeurism Victims

Beyond criminal prosecution, victims of voyeurism in Idaho can pursue civil lawsuits against the offender.

Common Civil Claims

Invasion of privacy. Idaho courts recognize a common law right to privacy, and secret recording in private spaces constitutes an invasion of that right. Victims can seek compensatory damages for emotional distress, reputational harm, and other injuries.

Intentional infliction of emotional distress. When voyeuristic conduct is sufficiently outrageous, victims can bring a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Civil liability under wiretapping statute. If audio was also captured, victims can sue under Idaho Code 18-6709 for actual damages, statutory damages of $100 per day (minimum $1,000), punitive damages, and attorney fees.

Protective Orders

Victims may be able to get a civil protection order. If the offender is a family or household member or a current or former dating partner, Idaho's domestic violence protection order law may apply (Idaho Code 39-6303 defines who is covered). Otherwise, Idaho Code 18-7907 allows a petition for a protection order when the conduct amounts to stalking, which requires a repeated course of conduct. The petition is filed with the magistrate division of the district court and must allege conduct within the 90 days before filing.

Defenses to Voyeurism Charges

If the person being recorded consented to the recording, the conduct is not voyeuristic. Consent must be voluntary and informed. A person who does not know a camera is present has not consented, even if they have generally consented to being in the location.

No Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

If the recording took place in a location where the person did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy, the voyeurism statute does not apply. Recording someone in a public park, on a sidewalk, or at a public event does not violate Idaho Code 18-6605 (unless a device is used to get past clothing covering a person's intimate areas, with the sexual or degrading purpose the statute requires).

Legitimate Purpose

Certain recordings in private spaces may be justified by a legitimate purpose. Because subsection (2) requires a sexual purpose or a purpose to sexually degrade or abuse, the absence of that intent is itself a defense to that prong. For example, a parent installing a baby monitor in a nursery is not committing voyeurism. A business owner placing a visible security camera in a stockroom (not a restroom or changing area) is acting within their rights.

Constitutional Challenges

In some cases, defendants have challenged voyeurism statutes on constitutional grounds, arguing that the laws are overly broad or vague. Whether a challenge to Idaho Code 18-6605 would succeed depends on the facts and the court.

Technology and Evolving Privacy Threats

Modern technology has created new vectors for voyeuristic conduct that Idaho's laws must address.

Miniaturized Cameras

Cameras can now be concealed in everyday objects such as smoke detectors, electrical outlets, alarm clocks, picture frames, and even screws. These devices can be extremely difficult to detect and can transmit footage remotely via Wi-Fi, making it possible for an offender to view images from anywhere with an internet connection.

Smart Home Devices

Internet-connected security cameras, baby monitors, and smart home devices can be hacked or misused for voyeuristic purposes. Unauthorized access to these devices to view private footage may violate federal computer fraud laws, and Idaho's voyeurism statute when done with the sexual or degrading purpose it requires.

Deepfakes and AI-Generated Content

Idaho has directly addressed AI-generated intimate images. HB 575 (Idaho Session Laws Ch. 105, effective July 1, 2024) created Idaho Code 18-6606, which criminalizes AI deepfake intimate images. A first offense is a misdemeanor unless the person depicted is under 18 or the offender has a prior conviction for the same or a similar offense within the past 5 years, in which case it is a felony carrying up to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $25,000. A 2026 amendment (House Bill 727, Idaho Session Laws ch. 121, effective July 1, 2026) added the under-18 trigger; before that date, only a repeat offense reached felony level. The law covers disclosing AI-generated explicit images of a real, identifiable person without consent, and possessing such images while threatening to disclose them to get money or something else of value. Creating the images, without sharing them or threatening to, is not covered by section 18-6606. Idaho Code 18-6605 continues to govern non-AI-generated voyeuristic recordings; 18-6606 addresses the AI deepfake context specifically. The same 2026 bill also amended 18-6605's dissemination prong, described above.

How to Report Voyeurism in Idaho

If you discover a hidden camera or believe you are a victim of voyeurism in Idaho:

  1. Contact local law enforcement immediately. Call your local police department or the Ada County Sheriff's Office at their non-emergency line, or call 911 if you feel in immediate danger.

  2. Preserve evidence. If you find a hidden camera, do not touch or move it if possible. Take photographs of the device and its location. If you have received voyeuristic images, save copies with metadata intact.

  3. Document everything. Write down the date, time, and location of the discovery. Note any potential suspects and circumstances that led to the discovery.

  4. Contact the Idaho Attorney General's Office. The Idaho Attorney General handles cases involving internet crimes, exploitation, and privacy violations.

  5. Consult an attorney. A lawyer experienced in privacy law can advise you on both criminal reporting and civil remedies.

Sex Offender Registration Considerations

Under Idaho Code 18-8304, a video voyeurism conviction under section 18-6605 requires registration on the Idaho Sex Offender Registry when the victim was a minor, or on a second or later conviction, whatever the victim's age. A first conviction involving an adult victim does not by itself require registration under that section.

Registration requirements include providing personal information to local law enforcement, maintaining current address records, and complying with residency and employment restrictions. Failure to register is a separate criminal offense.

Idaho Recording Law Sub-Topics

Audio Recording | Video Recording | Voyeurism Laws | Workplace Recording | Recording Police | Phone Call Recording | Security Cameras | Recording in Public | Landlord-Tenant | Dashcam Laws | School Recording | Medical Recording

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is video voyeurism under Idaho law?

Video voyeurism under Idaho Code 18-6605 is the crime of using or installing any camera or imaging device in a place where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, without their knowledge or consent, with the intent of arousing or gratifying sexual desire, for lascivious entertainment or prurient interest, or to sexually degrade or abuse someone. This includes hidden cameras in bathrooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, and bedrooms.

What are the penalties for voyeurism in Idaho?

Any video voyeurism offense under Idaho Code 18-6605(4) is a felony outright; there is no misdemeanor first-offense tier. Because the statute sets no sentencing range of its own, Idaho's general felony punishment statute (Idaho Code 18-112) applies: up to 5 years in state prison and/or a fine of up to $50,000. Sharing voyeuristic images can be charged as a separate felony count under subsection (3).

Is revenge porn illegal in Idaho?

Yes. Idaho Code 18-6605(3) makes it a crime, when done with the intent to annoy, terrify, threaten, intimidate, harass, offend, humiliate, or degrade, to share, publish, or sell, or threaten to share, an image of an identifiable person whose intimate areas are exposed or who is engaged in a sexual act, when the sharer knew or should have known the person expected it to stay private and did not consent. This is part of the same video voyeurism statute covered above, so it is a felony with no misdemeanor tier: up to 5 years in state prison and/or a fine of up to $50,000.

Can I sue someone for placing a hidden camera in my home in Idaho?

Yes. Beyond criminal prosecution, you can file a civil lawsuit for invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and other claims. If the hidden camera also captured audio, you may have additional claims under Idaho Code 18-6709, which provides for actual damages, statutory damages of $100 per day (minimum $1,000), punitive damages, and attorney fees.

Does a voyeurism conviction require sex offender registration in Idaho?

Sometimes. Under Idaho Code 18-8304, a video voyeurism conviction under section 18-6605 requires sex offender registration when the victim was a minor, or on a second or later conviction. A first conviction involving an adult victim does not by itself require registration.

Updates

Added the sexual or degrading purpose element of Idaho Code 18-6605 to two passages that described the voyeurism offense without it.

We corrected the description of Idaho's deepfake law (it covers disclosing or threatening to disclose AI explicit images, not creating them), stated exactly when a video voyeurism conviction requires sex offender registration, corrected the voting-rights consequence to run through probation and parole, pointed victims to the correct protection-order statutes, and removed an unsupported prediction about constitutional challenges. We corrected the summary of Idaho's image-sharing offense, which now states its intent and knowledge requirements and that it is not limited to voyeuristically obtained images, made clear that recording intimate areas in public is covered only with the statute's sexual or degrading purpose, and removed wording that implied sharing carries a heavier penalty tier.

Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources; governing law re-checked for recent changes

Corrected the description of Idaho Code 18-6605 to include the statute's intent elements (a sexual purpose, or a purpose to sexually degrade or abuse, for recording in private places, and an intent to annoy, harass, humiliate or degrade for sharing intimate images) and aligned the definition of intimate areas with the statute.

Removed a fabricated statute, Idaho Code 18-6609, which was actually a retired pre-2022 section number for 18-6605 itself and had been given its own invented, contradictory misdemeanor and felony penalty tiers; folded the accurate dissemination-of-intimate-images conduct into 18-6605(3), which is a felony with no misdemeanor tier. Added a 2026 amendment (House Bill 727, effective July 1, 2026) that added threatening to disseminate an image to 18-6605's covered conduct and added an under-18-victim felony trigger to 18-6606.

Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources

Corrected the video voyeurism penalty structure (Idaho Code 18-6605), which invented a misdemeanor first-offense tier and specific $2,000/$5,000 fines not present in the statute; the corpus text shows any violation is an unconditional felony, and since the section sets no sentencing range of its own, Idaho's default felony punishment statute (18-112, up to 5 years and/or $50,000, verified live) applies. Fixed in the intro paragraph, KeyTakeaways, the dedicated penalties section, and the FAQ.

Governing law re-checked for recent changes

Reviewed and approved by an editor

Sources and References

  1. Idaho Code 18-6605 - Video Voyeurism(legislature.idaho.gov).gov
  2. Idaho Code 18-6606 - AI Deepfake Intimate Images (HB 575, eff. July 1, 2024)(legislature.idaho.gov).gov
  3. Idaho Code 18-6702 - Interception and Disclosure of Communications(legislature.idaho.gov).gov
  4. Idaho Code 18-6709 - Civil Remedies for Illegal Interception(legislature.idaho.gov).gov
  5. Idaho Code 18-8304 - Sex Offender Registration(legislature.idaho.gov).gov
  6. Idaho Code 18-7907 - Petition for Protection Order(legislature.idaho.gov).gov
  7. Idaho Attorney General - Reporting Crimes(ag.idaho.gov).gov
  8. Idaho House Bill 727 (2026), Idaho Session Laws Ch. 121 - amending 18-6605 and 18-6606(legislature.idaho.gov).gov
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