Q&A from the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline

Ayin Ro’ah

June 12, 2025

Q If a man and a woman are secluded under the watchful eye of video surveillance, is that forbidden yichud?

A A related scenario in hilchos yichud is pesach pasuach lirshus harabim (where a door or window is open to a public domain). In many such cases, yichud is permitted, because the room is not considered secluded. Similarly in your case, if the video feed can be viewed in real time, it is permitted, provided that three or more people have access and are likely to log in at any time and view it (R’ Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, cited in Shiurei Halacha, Yichud 4:6; though it is permitted, there is still room for stringency, as some poskim—cited there in a footnote—forbid it). This leniency cannot be applied in cases where the occupants are acquainted with one another (libo gas bah), as in an office setting (ibid.).

If the camera’s recordings are saved to a file but cannot be viewed live, that does not render the area public, even though people can access the recordings later (ibid.).

A camera can only help permit yichud if it views the entire room. If it doesn’t, yichud applies even in the surveilled parts, as the people could easily move (ibid. 4:4). If the man and woman don’t know which areas are unmonitored, yichud is permitted in the entire room (ibid. n. 36).

While video surveillance can help mitigate yichud, a Zoom call cannot. This is because a phone can easily be turned off with a plausible excuse, such as a dead battery, and nothing suspicious would be detected (ibid. 4:7).