If that were the case then a camera could be implanted in every house w/o the owner's consent because the camera only detects light emissions [and reflections] from other sources.
“If that were the case then a camera could be implanted in every house w/o the owner’s consent because the camera only detects light emissions [and reflections] from other sources.”
No, absolutely not.
Because the act of physically placing the camera would become “the intrusion”. Same as the police secretly placing GPS devices on some cars to track the location of the owners without a court order. Good chance that it will be invalidated later on.
Are there not cases of the police using infrared sensors to identify homes where marijuana is being grown under high-intensity lighting? No “active device” is being used here (i.e., something that sends a signal into the house, then reads the result), just “passive monitoring” of energy being generated from within the dwellings.
BIG difference legally.
Take this a step further with the “terahertz detector”, which passively monitors energy being radiated by one’s person.
I’m not any happier about this than you are.
But this is the future that’s coming...