Legal and Ethical Conduct, Privacy, and Prohibited Practices
Impersonation and identification
Never state or imply that you are a peace officer, and never carry or display a badge, patch, or uniform resembling law enforcement. ORS 162.365 criminalizes impersonating a peace officer, and DPSST treats badge-flashing as a license-threatening ethics violation even when no charge is filed. You may decline to identify yourself; you may not lie about being police.
Recording and eavesdropping
Oregon is a one-party-consent state: under ORS 165.540, a person who is a party to a conversation may record it. That does not authorize planting a recorder in a room you are not in, tapping a line, or recording where the other party has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Hidden cameras in bedrooms, bathrooms, and changing areas are prohibited outright.
Records and data
Driver records fall under the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. 2721-2725) and ORS 802.179; you need a permissible use and a truthful certification. Credit and background reports fall under the FCRA (15 U.S.C. 1681), which requires a permissible purpose plus proper disclosures and adverse-action handling for employment and tenant screening. Pretexting for phone records is a federal crime under the Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act of 2006. Accessing accounts or devices without authorization violates ORS 164.377.
Confidentiality and privilege
Oregon has no investigator-client privilege. Only the attorney-client privilege and attorney work product protect the file, and only when you are retained through counsel. Protect client information anyway as a contractual and ethical duty.
Worked example
A client asks you to record a call with his ex-wife. You will be a party to that call, so recording it is lawful under ORS 165.540. If the real plan is to leave a recorder inside her home, refuse: that is criminal eavesdropping and an invasion-of-privacy tort.
Traps that cost marks
Believing a PI license authorizes wiretaps; treating one-party consent as permission to record anything anywhere; running a DMV query for a friend; assuming conversations with clients are privileged.