Cameras
One for the legal minded people this one...
My neighbour has just fitted a security camera to the front of his house. It's one of them hot head type ones...the sort of half an orb of glass with a camera inside.
Now I know those camera rotate in all directions...which means he'll get a full view of people entering and leaving my property and also full views of people entering and leaving properties up and down the street as well as being able to view properties across the street etc.
I'm fairly certain that this can't be done and I can challenge it as an invasion of my privacy since I can never be certain if he is looking at my property...where do I stand on this one?
I just don't like the idea that he can monitor my property in particular, the comings and goings...I'm also fairly certain a few other people won't like it as well.
Any advice is welcome.
STeaMy xx
My neighbour has just fitted a security camera to the front of his house. It's one of them hot head type ones...the sort of half an orb of glass with a camera inside.
Now I know those camera rotate in all directions...which means he'll get a full view of people entering and leaving my property and also full views of people entering and leaving properties up and down the street as well as being able to view properties across the street etc.
I'm fairly certain that this can't be done and I can challenge it as an invasion of my privacy since I can never be certain if he is looking at my property...where do I stand on this one?
I just don't like the idea that he can monitor my property in particular, the comings and goings...I'm also fairly certain a few other people won't like it as well.
Any advice is welcome.
STeaMy xx
Post edited by STeaM on
Comments
What's the issue here? Do you believe your neighbour is planning to share the information he gathers? Do you believe your neighbour is out to get you?
Provided it wasn't pointed directly into our rooms I would welcome a bit of extra security. It's clear he/she feels its needed.
In Spain, is against the law to have cameras pointing to public areas (except those managed by police). Even shops with anti-theft cameras must show warnings (mostly because those cameras are recording data about you), and their cameras must not point outside.
Before going to talk with police, please check that the camera is a real one (dummy/fake cameras are really cheap to buy and install, and may serve as anti-theft deterrent). Then, maybe you should talk with your neighbour and ask him politely to move/remove that camera.
It's about privacy. My neighbours doesn't need to know who is coming in and out from my house, when I'm at home or outside, or if some relative comes drunk every weekend.
There was some discussion in my country about webcams placed at public sites (i.e.: a webcam showing la Plaza del Castillo during Sanfermines), because maybe somebody wouldn't like that his wife found him in a place where he shouldn't be. That cameras were found acceptable only if resolution was not enough to allow bystanders to be identified. I guess that the security camera Steam mentions is not a webcam, but is better to be safe about that things.
An' you know what they said?
Well, some of it was true!
It's called invasion of privacy Scottie. I have a right to lead a private/family life without the eyes of prying neighbours watching either potentially or actually. He has no right to record who comes and goes from my house, or when I leave and re-enter my home.
If I want a security camera to cover my property I would buy and have it fitted myself.
How do I know that he isn't planning on sharing this info with other people? Why should he have the choice even if he isn't??
As far as I'm concerned, his cameras should only cover his property...I'm also pretty certain that he cannot record the pavement either.
I'd say the usefulness our-weights the slight loss of privacy.
does the camera capture your property or are you assuming it does?
yes article 8 HRA protects your right to privacy and section 36 DPA protects your data that may be captured, but if there is a limited use and the footage is retained only for the purposes of protecting his property for a limited period then destroyed and not passed onto a third party there isn't much you can do about it
especially if your door is on the periphery of the footage
Hmmmm...not so, since if my house got burgled he can refuse to provide the footage.
Even if he provided it, as I believe it is illegally fitted, any footage captured of a B&E on my property would be rendered useless in court. That wouldn't be my or my neighbours choice...a decent brief could argue it away as inadmissable.
In terms of added security benefit, he has no camera around the back...so again useless if someone got in that way.
But all that is pretty moot any way. All I want is someone of a legal mind to tell me if I'm in the right to object to it on the grounds of invasion of privacy.
It's one of them globe ones BiNMaN, they usually have full 360 rotation.
still nothing that covers it for a private householder, there's RIPA and the Surveillance Code of Conduct but that's for the Government, local Police etc
as long as the footage is not misused I can't see you being able to do anything
I find that truly shocking...I really do.
I mean how can I prove that footage is not being misused for starters?
I really do despair that this state of affairs exists. Truly, what has happened to peoples privacy...
the current legislation is severely lacking and only covers state and government usage not private individuals, something that needs to be remedied :(
If I go to my council/police and they can't do anything...then I put my own cameras up pointing straight back at his!
Game for a laugh like: -
Watching us...Watching you...Watching us...Watching you....
HAHAHAAHA!!!
They call those types Pan, Tilt and Zoom or PTZ for short
Don't always assume the worst of people. Have a more positive outlook on life. Believe me, it will do your health no good to dwell on the negatives. And... dont fight negativity with negativity, unlike Maths it does not result in a positive outcome, it just gets worse for all concerned.
If he wants to put his safety-wafety cameras up, let him. Don't let that stop your Monday 'Nude Day'. After all I bet they have a life too and won't have someone sat there manning the cameras 24-7.
what with camera phones etc it's tricky.. also in central London you can also get your camera / footage seized, as apparently it's happened to tourists. it's private property , not the public highway like traffic cop type shows, so they can film what they want..
IRC if your car gets damaged and YOU film it.. you can't use it.. but if a neighbour did, it's usable. my friend caught his neighbour dinging his car doors with his.. he went mental, told him either pay up for the damage or he'd go to the police for criminal damage.
there is various links regarding legality. I really am tempted to fit it to my car as I'm seeing a lot of crap driving of late.. really dangerous stuff.
http://www.problemneighbours.co.uk/cctv-privacy-and-the-law.html
oh look its human rights again.. ya know them things that allow **** criminals from abroad who only came over here to commit crime to be NOT deported. my local council was spending about ?40k a week apparently, on such a person who they should have just chucked on a plane in his case.
In more general terms there isn't any law afaik that prevents people filming public areas like the street, though you may have some protection if there is evidence to suggest filming into an area where there is "a reasonable expectation of privacy", such as in your front room.
I definitely go for the friendly visit approach before worrying about legal issues though, most people are pretty reasonable after all.
There *are* already laws / rules / guidelines in place to prevent people filming private property without permission, but you are unlikely to find the enforcement of them high up anyone's list of priorities.
Cameras are just becoming a part of our daily lives. Your neighbours, on the balance of probability, have no interest in filming you or you property. If it really bothers you, like Andy said, why not just ask them about it in a friendly neighbourly manner?
If one camera is angering you to the point of ranting on a random forum, you may have to decide if it will be easier to change your attitude, or build a Chernobyl style box over your house to protect from the hundreds of Googleglass wearing people and aerial drones that will soon be filming it every day.
I'd try the IR light, since it's invisible. :grin:
The laser pointer is fun though :grin:
As others have mentioned previously yes it is illegal to place a camera where it can monitor a private property that the operator does not own (invasion of privacy).
The way that organisations get round it is by having a piece of software in the monitoring system that puts a black square over the relevant area of private property and this square moves as the camera moves to ensure that it stays blocked from view. These things are only found on pro spec systems not domestic ones, so I would say that he is almost certainly breaking the law in that respect if it is a 360? camera.
There's a much cheaper low tech solution involving black electrical tape of course ;)
Ahh yes, cover your house in black electrical tape, :)
and people get arrrested for using them in public.. they often show it on tv, with people point them at helicopters etc.
My car was in the garage, so I had to take the bus to work..some idiot kids were pointing it on the bus drivers mirror one day when I was going to bus in the morning, so I told him to stop and he did..same day , on way back home later... one of the other kids mouthed off and gave the the little ****s name.. which was handy as the school uniform made it easy to report... bus driver may have got done for cooperate manslaughter *IF* he had crashed / killed someone... thats why I won't drive for a living now.
some little ****s that should have been in school , but were out early for sports day were causing issue on my road , ?300-400 to my car.. so I feel no way to report them now for loitering etc.
you normally see the black square on the police cell camera's on tv, when the usual regular drunk old jezza kyle rejects are on the tv shows.