Has anyone dealt with an aide taking photos or videos of house or other aides?

Put out a memo to all caregivers and tell them it would be a violation of patient confidentiality under HIPPA laws to take pictures, record videos, conversations, etc. and that anyone doing so will be terminated and cell phone will be confiscated. Furthermore, no cell phones while on the job. It should be turned OFF and placed in their purse, etc. until their shift is over.

I think it is illegal to take pictures in a patient’s home without their written consent. It’s a privacy violation, and is against HIPPA.
Whoever is taking pictures needs to stop until you or your father give them permission.

Oops, Beethere, I see your Reply in the thread that there is no agency involved. Good idea to put in future contracts that they contact you if there needs to be pics taken, get permission. Sometimes there are very good reasons to document elder care with pics. Maybe you should discuss with the hands-on caregivers what some of those reasons would be and then it wouldn't bother you. If you trust these people to be give care to your Loved One, why wouldn't you trust their discretion to take pics only when necessary and appropriate?  Either they are trustworthy and competent or they're not.  

I've seen it happen between caregivers. Sometimes they want to "tattle" on the other one for not doing X duties, leaving something (laundry, diaper change, dishes, etc) for the other aid to do more than their fair share of work. You should let agency know if you don't appreciate it.

They could just be trying to protect themselves, too. If they observe something and need to show their manager, to make sure something is documented.  

Find out why it was done, go from there.

And also, why not put a remote-viewed camera in plain sight in most commonly occupied room? (Not bathroom or anything private, just living room.) Whether you actually view it or not, you give yourself the option... just in case.

I wouldn't want pictures taken of the place because they would be like casing the joint for a burglary.

Thanks for confirmation that this feels wrong. No agency involved. One video was of another aide, possibly because the one felt she was doing the job incorrectly, BUT she never showed me the video. The other instance was a comment I overheard if the aide saying she would send a photo to a friend of how one personal room (family member of the person being cared for) was left a mess. My concern is what else she may have photographed, but not sure if/how I can demand to see the phone. Will definitely put this in any future contracts

I was just speaking with a rep of an agency this morning, raised the issue, explaining that I was totally opposed to any posting on FB or other social media and wouldn't allow it in my father's home. The rep was shocked that someone would do this and said she felt it was a violation of HIPAA. I agree.

Check the contract someone signed to make sure there's no explicit clause allowing this. And call the agency and share your concerns. They should respect your wishes, check the aide's phone and delete the photos.

But unless there are issues such as CM suggests, I would consider replacing that aide. You don't know what else she might have photographed or where the photos will end up.

Personally, I find this trend toward photographing literally everything, anywhere, any time, to be not only offensive and tasteless, but irrelevant. I don't understand why people think so many photos are necessary, especially the silly selfies. Don't they know what they look like?

All you have to do is browse social media to see that the smart phone generation often have no sense when it comes to what they record or share with the world. Regardless of the reason, a person has the expectation of privacy in their own home and any recording or photographing without permission is just plain wrong. I have a fuzzy recollection of a case that went to court in the not to distant past where an aide posted a video of her client partially disrobed because she thought the little song they were singing was "cute", or at least that was her defence. SMH.

Is this perhaps a dispute between aides about correct practice? Do both of the people involved come from the same agency? - if so, I'd ask the agency to investigate what you have heard.

Taking pictures of your client or your client's home without your client's explicit consent is bang out of order in any case. But if - IF - this were being done to expose poor practice, or defend herself against an accusation of bad practice, or for some other well-intentioned reason directly relevant to your mother's welfare, it doesn't have to be a firing offence unless you choose to make it so. But you do need to get to the bottom of the matter.