I personally have posted numerous videos of people in public places, predominantly on the beach, jumping into the ocean and bodyboarding in Waikiki onto YouTube without any complaints so far. Here is a quote from the first cited reference:

"Generally, it is perfectly legal to videotape or photograph any person and anything while on public property, except:

* You cannot take pictures of areas that are usually considered private such as bedrooms, bathrooms, changing rooms, locker rooms, hotel rooms and so on
* Certain public places have banned the use of cameras such as mass transit systems, courthouses, capital buildings, secured government buildings, jails or prisons unless you obtain written permission
* You cannot film or photograph if it interferes with police, fire, medical or emergency operations

There are also restrictions on videotaping and photographing on private property:

* If the private property is open to the public, such as retail stores, private stadiums or tourist areas, filming may be allowed unless there are signs posted that expressly forbid videotaping or photography
* If the private property belongs to someone other than a commercial business, you had better get the property owner's permission"

If you really want to protect yourself, then you would want to get the subject's consent to be videotaped or photographed. The article cited here has more information on that. I also have had people videotaping me while I bodyboard, and I have signed "releases" for them to publish as they wish and even sell. I don't care. Waikiki is often used as a backdrop for various video productions, and usually there are prominent signs saying if you walk beyond a certain point, you may be captured on film. This is called implied consent.

Implied consent "means that the subjects knew you were taking their picture and indicated consent by their reaction, such as posing or waving at the camera or nodding affirmatively after you requested their permission before you took the shot."

I don't mind having my picture taken by tourists, and I often wave to them. They in turn may email a picture of me, and we become friends. I include a link below to a page of my bodyboarding videos, so enjoy! Use the link at the bottom of my page on bodyboarding to send me a private message on Mahalo if you have any further questions. I'm not a lawyer, though.

As an afterthought, I would say the legal issue is the expectation of privacy. Do the pedestrians have an expectation of privacy when looking into the window. Probably not, but perhaps you could arrange it with the camera in full view pointing at them, and then do your surprise. Then you could argue that they saw the camera in plain view.

Photographing and recording video is public is legal.

There is no "expectation of privacy". However, even a small "you're on camera" sign will help you stay on the right side of the law.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04132009/news/regionalnews/shutterbugged_164159.htm

Off the top of my head, head corporations don't get sued for something like that. The only issue is that they use government cameras. As far as I'm concerned, it really depends on where your broadcasting it. If it's something like YouTube, Blip, etc, I wouldn't worry about it. But if it's going on something like NBC or CBS, then you would have to get consent. However, I wouldn't freak about it too much.

But I'd talk to someone on YouTube whose known for Web Series (Phil DeFranco, Smosh, Fred, etc) so they can give you some personal feedback. I know putting pictures of people up have gotten some of them in trouble. But for the most part, they haven't had that much trouble with the law.