As O'Brien passed the telescreen a thought seemed to strike him. He stopped, turned aside and pressed a switch on the wall. There was a sharp snap. The voice had stopped.

Julia uttered a tiny sound, a sort of squeak of surprise. Even in the midst of his panic, Winston was too much taken aback to be able to hold his tongue.

'You can turn it off!' he said.

'Yes,' said O'Brien, 'we can turn it off. We have that privilege.'

You can't install security in your own house? Sounds like BS to me.

Maybe the solution for the mere plebians is to have a sign at the front entrance to the house in small print informing of recording (something like the Prop 65 warnings no one reads here in the People's Republic of California. Add other warnings a la Prop 65 and translate it into six languages (to respect diversity) and no one will read it, certainly not cops intent on arresting someone roughly.

Rule #1 of uncovering police malfeasance, don't bring the evidence to the police. Give copies to the media or circulate it on the internet to generate buzz and attention.

He consented and his son consented. You dont need the consent of both parties.

It is unlikely this will see a courtroom. The police achieved their goal of intimidation by arrest. They held him in custody, cost him money for bail and denied the family use of their home overnight. Had this story not made the papers, they would have quietly dismissed charges, with an "Oops, sorry we were wrong about the law." The message is clear, complain about the police get your life disrupted. Downside is that now that the arrest is all over the internet, the police can't just drop the charges but will try to convict him of something to give cover to their actions.

Perhaps some enterprising attorney will go through the town suing business owners, banks (ATM cameras especially), and the city for illegal wiretapping demanding an that the court order the cameras turned off until the case is adjudicated. That'll make the city safe for criminals and police.