Things I wish were in the AAP Manifesto, 1: Right to Record

The proliferation of phones that can record audio and video is an enormous opportunity to curb corruption and abuse of power by government officials. AFAIK, there is no law that prevents you from recording your interactions in a government office (except, of course, legitimate security-related places). However, openly recording a government official will result, at the very least, in hostility and refusal to talk; I can easily imagine much worse happening if you attempt to record the police.

I propose a law that affirms your right to record officers of government and police, openly or covertly, whenever they are engaged in any task or interaction that has bearing on their official responsibilities.

If they try to threaten or coerce you to stop, or fail to provide you a service that you are entitled to and cannot offer a credible reason other than your act of recording them, they should face punishment up to a term in jail.

Note that there can be reasonable restrictions to guard loss of privacy of bystanders and for security reasons. (e.g. restricting recording to spaces that are accessible to the general public except under carefully defined situations)

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