California Penal Code Section 647(j) is the state’s main anti-voyeurism law. It makes four kinds of conduct criminal: peeping into private spaces, using a hidden camera to record under someone’s clothing, secretly recording people in bedrooms and bathrooms and similar spaces, and distributing intimate images without consent. A first offense is a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000, with steeper penalties when the victim is a minor or the offender has a prior conviction.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 647 – Disorderly Conduct
Peeping Into Private Areas
Section 647(j)(1) covers looking through a hole, opening, or any device into a space where someone has a reasonable expectation of privacy. The statute names bedrooms, bathrooms, changing rooms, fitting rooms, dressing rooms, and tanning booths, and extends to any other place that privacy expectation attaches to.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 647 – Disorderly Conduct The person doing the viewing must intend to invade the privacy of whoever is inside.
The devices that count are listed broadly. Telescopes, binoculars, cameras, camcorders, mobile phones, electronic devices, and unmanned aircraft systems like drones all qualify. Flying a camera-equipped drone up to a bedroom window is treated the same as physically pressing your face to the glass.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 647 – Disorderly Conduct
Secret Recording Under or Through Clothing
Section 647(j)(2) is the “upskirting” provision. It targets using a concealed camera to secretly record or photograph an identifiable person under or through their clothing, without consent, in a setting where the person had a reasonable expectation of privacy.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 647 – Disorderly Conduct “Identifiable” means someone could recognize the person in the image, not that their name has been determined.
This subsection carries the strictest state-of-mind requirement in the statute. Prosecutors have to prove two intents at once: that the offender acted for sexual gratification, and that the offender intended to invade the victim’s privacy. Both must be established.
Hidden Cameras in Private Spaces
Section 647(j)(3)(A) covers hidden recording devices placed in bedrooms, bathrooms, changing rooms, fitting rooms, dressing rooms, tanning booths, and similar areas where people undress. The intent requirement is lower than for upskirting: there is no need to prove sexual motivation, only that the offender intended to invade the victim’s privacy by secretly recording them in a private place.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 647 – Disorderly Conduct
Two defenses are specifically blocked. Having a relationship with the victim as a roommate, landlord, tenant, employer, or business partner is not a defense; a landlord who hides a camera in a tenant’s bathroom commits this crime the same as a stranger would. And the victim does not have to have been actually undressed when the recording happened. The offense is complete once the device secretly captures someone in the protected space.
Distributing Intimate Images Without Consent
Section 647(j)(4) is California’s “revenge porn” provision. It covers sharing images of someone’s intimate body parts (genitals, anus, or, for women, the breast below the areola) or images depicting sexual activity.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 647 A violation requires three things to all be true:
- The person sharing the image knew or should have known the distribution would cause serious emotional distress.
- The victim actually suffered serious emotional distress as a result.
- The circumstances fit one of three categories: the image was shared despite an agreement it would stay private, it was recorded without consent in a private setting, or it was obtained by exceeding authorized access to the victim’s property, accounts, or files.
The knowledge standard is lower than requiring proof of intent to harm. If a reasonable person would have known the sharing would be devastating, that element is satisfied.
Deepfake and AI-Generated Images
Section 647(j)(4)(A)(ii) extends the law to digitally created images. Making and distributing a photorealistic fake of a real, identifiable person’s intimate body parts or sexual activity is a crime when the image is convincing enough that a reasonable person would believe it is real.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 647 The same knowledge-of-distress and actual-distress requirements apply. Someone generating AI nudes of a real person and sharing them faces the same liability as someone leaking authentic photos.
When Distribution Is Not a Violation
The statute carves out distribution tied to reporting a crime, complying with a subpoena or court order, participating in a lawful public proceeding, or addressing a matter of genuine public interest. The law specifically states that being a public figure does not, by itself, make an intimate image a matter of public interest.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 647 – Disorderly Conduct
Penalties
A first violation of any subsection of 647(j) is a standard misdemeanor. Under Penal Code Section 19, that carries up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 19 First-time offenders without a record often receive probation, but the court can impose jail.
Section 647(k) raises the penalty in two situations:
- A second or subsequent violation of any part of 647(j) is punishable by up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $2,000, or both.
- If the victim was under 18 at the time of the offense, the same enhanced range applies even for a first conviction.
One narrow scenario can escalate beyond misdemeanor territory: a repeat violation of Section 647(j)(3), the hidden-camera-in-private-spaces provision, where the victim was a minor. That offense can be charged as a felony punishable by state prison time under Penal Code Section 1170(h), on top of the $2,000 fine. The felony option is unavailable if the offender was also under 18 at the time.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 647 – Disorderly Conduct No other 647(j) violation can be charged as a felony.
Civil Lawsuits by Victims
A criminal case is not the only option. California Civil Code Section 1708.85 lets a victim of nonconsensual image distribution sue the person who shared the material directly. The victim has to show the distribution was intentional, that the distributor knew or should have known the material was expected to stay private, and that the images show intimate body parts or sexual activity.4California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1708.85
A winning plaintiff can recover general damages for emotional distress and special damages for financial losses like therapy costs or lost income. Courts can order the defendant to stop distributing the material and can award reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing plaintiff. The court may also let the plaintiff proceed under a pseudonym so their identity stays confidential throughout the case.4California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1708.85 This civil claim is independent of any criminal prosecution, so a victim can sue even if prosecutors decline to file charges.
A Note on Federal Property
If voyeurism happens on federal land, such as a national park, military base, or federal building, a separate federal charge is possible under 18 U.S.C. ยง 1801. That statute makes it a crime to knowingly capture an image of someone’s private area without consent in a place where the person had a reasonable expectation of privacy, with a penalty of up to one year in federal prison, a fine, or both.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1801 – Video Voyeurism Conduct in a federal courthouse restroom in California, for example, could draw both state charges under 647(j) and federal charges under Section 1801.