Maryland All-Party

Licensing & Regulation

Maryland licenses PIs through the Maryland State Police, Licensing Division, under Md. Code Bus. Occ. & Prof. §13-101 et seq. Applicants must be 25+, U.S. citizens or legal residents, demonstrate five years of investigative experience, submit fingerprints, and pay licensing fees. A $5,000 surety bond is required for agencies.

Physical Surveillance

Public surveillance is permitted. Maryland's strong privacy framework includes the Maryland Personal Information Protection Act. GPS tracking on a non-owned vehicle is constrained by the stalking statute.

Audio & Video Recording Consent

Maryland is an all-party-consent state under Md. Code Cts. & Jud. Proc. §10-402 (the Maryland Wiretap Act). Every party to a wire, oral, or electronic communication must consent. Notable case: the prosecution of Linda Tripp arose from Maryland's all-party rule. Penalties include criminal felony and civil damages of up to $1,000 per day or $10,000.

Domestic, Marital & Infidelity Investigations

Maryland allows both fault and no-fault divorce. Adultery is a ground. Marital misconduct can affect alimony. PIs do extensive matrimonial work but must observe all-party consent strictly — recording phone calls is a felony exposure.

Cybersecurity, Hacking & Digital Investigations

Md. Code Crim. Law §7-301 et seq. (Maryland Computer Crimes Act) is broad. OSINT is permitted; pretexting is barred. Maryland has data-broker rules through the Personal Information Protection Act.

Missing Persons, Skip Tracing & Harassment

Maryland State Police coordinate missing-persons cases. DPPA fully applies. Maryland's stalking statute (Md. Code Crim. Law §3-802) is broad.