Recording inside a federal building usually requires permission from the agency that occupies the space. That is the default rule set by the General Services Administration, and breaking it is a federal offense carrying a fine of up to $50, up to 30 days in jail, or both. On top of that baseline, individual agencies write their own policies, and those policies vary widely. A federal courthouse and a national park are both federal property, but the recording rules could hardly be more different.
The Default Rule Across Most Federal Buildings
The GSA controls most civilian federal buildings, and its regulation at 41 C.F.R. § 102-74.420 sorts recording into three buckets:
- Non-commercial recording (personal photos, hobby video) is allowed inside agency-occupied space, but only with the agency’s permission.
- Commercial recording for advertising or marketing requires written permission from an authorized official of the occupying agency.
- News recording is allowed in entrances, lobbies, foyers, corridors, and auditoriums without prior permission.
All three categories yield to security directives and to any federal court order that restricts recording in a particular area.1eCFR. 41 CFR 102-74.420 – What Is the Policy Concerning Photographs for News, Advertising, or Commercial Purposes The practical takeaway: unless you are a working journalist in a common area, ask first. Some agencies post signs stating their policy, but the absence of a sign does not mean recording is allowed.
Federal Courthouses Are the Strictest
If you are heading to a federal court, assume cameras are off. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53 bars photographing judicial proceedings in the courtroom and broadcasting those proceedings.2Cornell Law School. Rule 53 – Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited The Judicial Conference extends the ban to civil proceedings in district courts as well, prohibiting broadcasting, televising, recording, or photographing for public dissemination. Narrow exceptions cover ceremonial events like naturalization ceremonies, creation of the official record, security purposes, and appellate arguments in circuits that allow them. For a standard trial or hearing, cameras stay off.
What happens elsewhere in the courthouse depends on the district. Some districts bar electronic devices from the building entirely. Others let attorneys and court staff carry phones but restrict use by the public. Others allow everyone to bring a phone in as long as it is silenced in the courtroom. Check the local rules or call the clerk’s office before you go.
Post Offices, SSA, IRS, VA, TSA, and National Parks
The rule that applies inside the building depends on which agency occupies it. The differences matter.
Post Offices
The Postal Service mirrors the GSA structure. News photography is allowed in entrances, lobbies, foyers, corridors, and auditoriums used for public meetings. Everything else requires permission from the local postmaster or installation head, and signs or instructions from security staff can tighten those limits.3eCFR. 39 CFR 232.1 – Conduct on Postal Property Casually filming yourself in the lobby line is technically not permitted without approval.
Social Security Field Offices
The SSA splits audio from video. You can audio record your phone or in-person contact with SSA staff, no signed release required.4SSA – POMS. Taping Interviews in Field Offices – Policy Video and photography fall under the standard GSA rule and need agency permission. Record the audio of your benefits interview on your phone if you want a record; do not point a camera at anyone.
IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers
The IRS is one of the few places where a federal statute gives you an explicit recording right. Under 26 U.S.C. § 7521, any IRS employee conducting an in-person interview with a taxpayer about the determination or collection of taxes must allow the taxpayer to make an audio recording, provided the taxpayer asks in advance and uses their own equipment at their own expense.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7521 – Procedures Involving Taxpayer Interviews If the IRS records the interview, the agent must tell you in advance and give you a transcript or copy on request if you reimburse the cost. The right does not extend to criminal investigations.
VA Medical Facilities
The VA has HIPAA-driven privacy rules and requires written consent before it photographs patients or uses images from medical records for purposes beyond treatment.6VA.gov. VA Form 10-3203 – Consent for Production and Use of Verbal or Written Statements, Photographs, Digital Images, and Video or Audio Recordings by VA Recording by patients cuts the other way. VHA Directive 1078 states that no federal statute or regulation prohibits veterans, patients, or their family members from recording providers or employees without their permission, and it declines to address the scenario because no federal law bars it. A facility may still ask you to stop, but a blanket ban stands on shaky legal ground.
TSA Checkpoints
The TSA is more permissive than most travelers expect. Its policy allows photography, video, and filming at security checkpoints as long as you do not interfere with screening or capture sensitive information.7Transportation Security Administration. Can I Film and Take Photos at a Security Checkpoint Interference includes holding a device in an officer’s face, refusing the proper screening stance, blocking other passengers, or refusing to send your recording device through the X-ray. You also cannot film monitors that are shielded from public view. Filming your own screening is fine. Non-checkpoint areas of the terminal are often run by the local airport authority, which sets its own rules.
National Park Service Lands
Parks are the loosest federal properties for recording. The EXPLORE Act, signed on January 4, 2025, ended the commercial versus non-commercial distinction. No permit or fee is required for filming, still photography, or audio recording involving eight or fewer people, provided the activity is in areas open to the public, uses only hand-carried equipment, does not require exclusive use of a site, does not harm park resources or disturb other visitors, and will not create additional costs for the Park Service.8National Park Service. Filming, Still Photography, and Audio Recording Larger groups, or activities that miss any of those conditions, may need a permit that carries location fees and administrative costs.
Outside the Building and Recording Federal Officers
Step onto the sidewalk and the rules change. In a court settlement, the federal government acknowledged that no federal statute or regulation bars photographing the exterior of a federal building from a publicly accessible space. A Federal Protective Service directive tells its personnel that absent reasonable suspicion or probable cause, they must allow people to photograph exteriors from public areas. The real limits are practical: do not block entrances, impede pedestrians, interfere with security operations, or cross an established emergency or event perimeter.
Recording officers themselves is protected activity in most of the country. A 2018 DHS operational order directs its law enforcement personnel to maintain security “without adversely impacting the public’s rights relating to photography and videotaping,” and states that photography and videotaping absent a criminal predicate is a First Amendment protected activity.9Department of Homeland Security / Federal Protective Service. Operational Readiness Order Photography and Videotaping Federal Facilities Multiple federal appeals courts have recognized a First Amendment right to record government officials or police performing their duties in public. The right protects observation, not obstruction: you cannot put a camera in an officer’s face to block their view or movement, physically interfere with an arrest or screening, or enter restricted areas for a better angle.
Penalties and What Officers Can Do With Your Phone
Violating the GSA recording rules is a federal offense, though a minor one. Under 41 C.F.R. § 102-74.450, a person found guilty faces a fine of not more than $50, imprisonment of not more than 30 days, or both.10GovInfo. 41 CFR 102-74.450 – What Are the Penalties for Violating Any Rule or Regulation in This Subpart
The bigger question for most people is what happens to the device in their hand. Federal officers can tell you to stop recording and can remove you from the property if you refuse. Searching your phone is a different matter. In Riley v. California, the Supreme Court held that police generally cannot search digital information on a cell phone seized from an individual without a warrant, even during an arrest.11Justia Supreme Court Center. Riley v California 573 US 373 (2014) The Court reasoned that a phone holds vastly more private information than a wallet or bag, and that the usual justifications for warrantless searches incident to arrest (officer safety and preventing evidence destruction) do not carry over to digital data. An officer can take physical custody of your phone to stop the recording, but going through your photos and videos generally requires a warrant. An order to delete footage on the spot is not a lawful order you have to follow.
Beyond criminal penalties, an agency can ban you from re-entering a facility. For someone who regularly picks up mail, attends hearings, or visits a VA clinic, a facility ban tends to bite harder than the fine.