Legal and Ethical Constraints
The lines you cannot cross
An investigator holds no more authority than any other citizen. Know these Ohio anchors. Recording: Ohio is a one-party-consent state for interception of oral and wire communications under R.C. 2933.52 - a participant may record. A non-participant may not. The classic trap is audio recording in a place where the subject has a reasonable expectation of privacy; the answer turns on who consented, not on where the recorder was hidden. Trespass: R.C. 2911.21 applies to investigators; a posted sign or a closed, gated property ends the implied invitation a walkway or open business floor gives you. Privacy offenses: peering into a dwelling or restroom is voyeurism under R.C. 2907.08 regardless of the client's instructions. Impersonation: R.C. 2921.51 makes it a crime to represent yourself as a peace officer; you may say you are working on a matter, but not that you are police. Records: motor-vehicle and driver records are restricted by the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act; you need a permissible purpose, and pretexting for financial records violates federal law.
Ethics run parallel: confidentiality, no conflicts (never work both sides of a domestic case), no fabrication, no inducement, and a duty to decline unlawful objectives even at the cost of the client.
Worked example: a client asks you to record a call between the client and the opposing spouse. The client is a party, so the client's own consent makes the interception lawful - but recording the opposing spouse's call with a third party, when nobody on the call consents, is a serious criminal offense. Rule of thumb: consent must come from someone on the call.