A caregiver may carry a phone into the house. Your parent may already have a doorbell camera, an indoor camera, a voice assistant, or a family member checking a video feed. Do not leave the rules for all of that to the first shift.
Your next move is to ask each provider the same questions, collect the written policy, and test it against one ordinary situation. This is an operating check, not a request for legal advice. If you need help interpreting recording or privacy law, use a qualified Missouri lawyer. The public materials used for this sheet are identified on the Sources page.
1. List every device already in the house
Walk through the rooms where care will happen. Write down each device that can capture a picture, sound, or activity record. Include doorbell cameras, indoor cameras, baby monitors, voice assistants, security systems, and family phones used for remote check-ins.
Device: ____________________
Location: ____________________
Captures video, sound, or both: ____________________
Who can view or retrieve it: ____________________
Do not tell a provider only that the house has cameras. Give the locations and say whether sound is captured. Ask who at the provider will record that information and how the assigned caregiver will receive it.
Answer to listen for: “We document each device and tell the assigned worker before the shift.”
Sign to stop: “Just tell the caregiver when they arrive.” That leaves no record that a substitute or supervisor received the same notice.
2. Ask what the caregiver may capture
Use separate questions. “No social media” is not a complete phone policy.
Ask:
1. May the caregiver photograph my parent?
2. May the caregiver photograph a meal, skin concern, damaged item, medication container, or completed household task?
3. May the caregiver record audio or video?
4. May the caregiver send any image through a personal text account?
5. May the caregiver store an image on a personal phone?
6. May the caregiver use a provider-owned device or app instead?
7. Who can authorize an exception?
Write the answers separately:
Routine photographs allowed: ____________________
Emergency photographs allowed: ____________________
Approved device or system: ____________________
Person who can authorize an exception: ____________________
Answer to listen for: a rule that identifies the permitted purpose, the approved device or system, and the person who may approve an exception.
Sign to stop: “Our caregivers use common sense.” You need a rule another caregiver can follow without guessing.
3. Separate documentation from family convenience
A family request can create the same problem as a caregiver’s decision. Your sister may want a meal photo. You may want a video showing how your father walked. Ask whether those requests must go through the office, a family portal, or another approved route.
Put one person in charge of approving family requests:
Family contact: ____________________
Approved request route: ____________________
Requests that are never allowed: ____________________
Then ask the provider: “If another relative texts the caregiver directly and asks for a picture, what should the caregiver do?”
Answer to listen for: the caregiver declines or redirects the request to the named contact or office.
Sign to stop: different relatives can ask for images without the provider checking who they are or whether they have permission.
4. Find out where an approved image goes
If the provider permits any image, follow it from capture to deletion. The Federal Trade Commission’s guidance for businesses emphasizes knowing what personal information is held, limiting access, protecting it, and disposing of it securely. The citation trail is available through this site’s public source list.
Ask:
1. Is the image stored on the phone, in an app, or in the care record?
2. Who can open it?
3. Can it be downloaded or forwarded?
4. When is it removed from the phone?
5. When is it removed from the provider’s system?
6. What happens to it when the caregiver leaves the job?
Storage location: ____________________
People with access: ____________________
Deletion point: ____________________
Person responsible for deletion: ____________________
Sign to stop: the provider permits care-related photographs but cannot name the storage location or deletion step.
5. Ask how the provider handles your cameras
Tell the provider which cameras will remain active during care. Ask for any written rule the provider gives its workers about cameras in a client’s home.
Then ask:
1. Are any rooms off limits for recording?
2. Must the caregiver acknowledge the camera locations in writing?
3. What happens if a camera is moved, covered, unplugged, or disabled?
4. Who receives a caregiver’s concern about a camera?
5. Will a substitute receive the same camera notice?
Provider’s camera policy received: ____________________
How substitutes are notified: ____________________
Office contact for a dispute: ____________________
Do not promise that a camera will stay on if family members routinely switch it off. Describe the setup that will actually operate during the shift.
6. Run one ordinary scenario
Use the same scenario with every provider:
“My father has a red mark on his arm. The caregiver wants to show the office. What happens next?”
Write the answer in order:
Who is called first: ____________________
Who decides whether a photograph is needed: ____________________
What device or system is used: ____________________
Who receives the image: ____________________
Where the action is documented: ____________________
When the image is deleted: ____________________
You are checking whether the policy can produce a complete sequence. Do not supply missing steps for the provider.
7. Put the answer next to the contract
Compare the written policy, intake paperwork, family portal terms, and contract. Mark any clause that permits photographs, electronic monitoring, texting, use of personal devices, or sharing information with contractors.
Document reviewed: ____________________
Clause or page: ____________________
What it permits: ____________________
What the representative said: ____________________
If the spoken answer is narrower than the document, ask which one controls and request the correction in writing before you commit. The site’s method page explains why these sheets separate a spoken promise from the document that governs the work.
8. Close the check with a one-page rule
Your final note should fit on one page:
House cameras disclosed: Yes / No
Caregiver photography permitted: Yes / No / Only with approval
Audio or video recording permitted: Yes / No / Only with approval
Personal texting permitted: Yes / No
Approved system: ____________________
Family approver: ____________________
Provider contact: ____________________
Incident and deletion route confirmed: Yes / No
Written policy matches contract: Yes / No
Do not commit while any “No” means the provider still owes you an answer. If you are still sorting out the broader hiring sequence, return to Five Steps to Hiring and keep this sheet with the provider’s written response.