By Patrick Hearn

Security cameras and monitoring systems provide an excellent solution for theft prevention. Plus, they provide a good way to keep an eye on staff and customers while you’re away. However, outfitting every corner of your home or office with cameras and sensors may leave both employees and patrons feeling uneasy.

So how do you strike a balance between securing your business without making people feel like they’re being spied on?

The answer is simple: Provide a level of privacy. Here’s how.

Step 1: Know the laws.*

While silently video recording is generally legal in any public area, recording audio is a different story. It’s almost always illegal to record audio without one of the recorded parties being aware of the recording. Depending on the state, audio recordings may require “two-party consent”—that is, everyone must be aware that audio is being recorded, including on video that has sound.