Most evidence people collect themselves is lawful. The problem is usually that it is unusable, and occasionally that collecting it was a crime.
If you are documenting something for a family case, an employment dispute or a claim, the rules below will keep what you gather worth having. General information, not legal advice.
What can I legally record in Florida?
Florida requires the consent of all parties to record a private conversation, under section 934.03 of the Florida Statutes. That makes Florida a two party consent state, and it catches an enormous number of people who assume that being part of the conversation is enough. It is not.
Video without audio, in a place where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy, is a different matter and is generally lawful. A great deal of self-collected evidence becomes usable simply by turning the microphone off.
How should I preserve screenshots and messages?
Capture the whole screen, not a crop. The URL, the account name, the timestamp and the surrounding thread are what establish that the message is what you say it is. A cropped image of text is close to worthless once anyone contests it.
Do not delete your side of a thread, even the parts that embarrass you. Selective preservation is the first thing opposing counsel looks for, and finding it damages everything else you produce.
Should I keep a log?
Yes, and contemporaneously. A dated written record made at the time carries weight that a reconstruction assembled six months later does not. Note what happened, when, who was present, and how you know. Keep it factual and leave your conclusions out of it.
What will get my evidence excluded or land me in trouble?
Recording a private conversation without the consent of all parties. Accessing an account, phone or computer that is not yours, including a spouse’s, which is unlawful even where you know the password. Installing monitoring software on someone else’s device. Placing a tracking device on a vehicle you do not own, prohibited by section 934.425. Trespassing to obtain photographs.
Each of these has ended cases that would otherwise have been won, and several are crimes independent of the case they were meant to help.
When should I stop and call an investigator?
When you find yourself considering any of the things in the previous section. When the other party has become aware you are documenting. When what you need requires following someone, because self-surveillance in a domestic matter goes wrong more often than it goes right and it can support a stalking allegation against you.
And when the material needs to survive challenge. Documentation prepared to evidentiary standards, with a maintained chain of custody and an investigator who can speak to how it was obtained, is a different exhibit from a folder of phone photos.
Written by Joshua Goldberg, Florida private investigator license C3400073, owner of Insight Investigative Group, LLC, agency license A3400127, Bradenton, Florida. General information, not legal advice.
Related: surveillance services and domestic investigations.
Ask an investigator
If you are unsure whether something you plan to do is lawful, ask before you do it. That conversation costs nothing.
Call and a licensed investigator answers, day or night, including weekends. Written enquiries are answered within 48 hours.