Attorney General Martha Coakley’s desired updates to the Massachusetts wiretap law make sense, provided that all surveillance is subject to judicial oversight (“Bill seeks end to strict limit on targets of wiretap law,” Metro, Jan. 28). But they don’t go far enough.

The existing statute outlaws recording audio without the consent of all parties. This is an antiquated provision that serves almost no purpose, denies citizens a powerful way to protect themselves, and, in many situations, makes a criminal out of anyone who captures a video with a cellphone.