Neighbors CCTV intrusion.

Phil4432

Actually inquiring on behalf of a friend.

She said that the neighbors have had a company install a CCTV system.  One of the cameras points in the direction of her garden, one at her driveway.  Her other half rang the security company, they confirmed that the cameras can see over the fence, however the company said that part of the camera has been blacked out and the neighbor cannot change the settings.  A common issue apparently, which they have to reassure neighbors of clients about.

Now these neighbors aren't the best of people, and I'm predicting difficulties.  I reassured my friend that they can't legally film her and her family (kids) legally, but looking through this it seems that you can actually film other people in their gardens.  https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/domestic-cctv-systems-guidance-for-people-being-filmed/

Furthermore, it seems that actual enforcement is a bit lax.  "However, in most CCTV-related disputes between neighbors, the ICO will not consider it appropriate or proportionate to take enforcement action against the CCTV user."

If anyone can share experience, much appreciated as always.

dickibobboy

I’m not sure on the location of buildings/walls etc but i do know from experience that sometimes when positioning cameras down side paths and so on they do sometimes need pointing further away from the wall as the IR for night vision can reflect off the wall the camera is mounted on and make night recording pretty much useless if it isn’t done. The wide angle on the cameras mean the full path and wall is still in view but also visible at night even if the camera doesn’t really look like it is pointing in that direction. From this you can usually add privacy masks on the camera from the recorder unit to block out any areas you shouldn’t wish to see. 

If it’s a proper security company that’s installed it i’d be inclined to believe it’s all been done properly however i can feel why your friend would not feel too comfortable even if they knew it was blocked from viewing. We had to do this with one of our neighbours but we explained the situation and they were happy to leave the privacy mask off as it only covered their front door which was useful to them if something happened. 

Ant555

I have just spotted that my own Reolink system has a privacy mask option for each camera  - I have never seen that before I started reading this thread. The neighbours cameras in this post are almost certainly linked to their smartphone so I guess the only way to know for sure is to ask them to show you the live feed but if you say its a difficult relationship then may not be an option.

I installed CCTV cameras and I can confirm that, for my cameras, if you were to stand somewhere around my garden or on the pavement or the road just outside my house and be able to see the centre of the camera then you are probably being recorded.

@dickibobby has already mentioned the IR issues with cameras close to walls and the one on the side of my house is pretty much angled at 45 degrees away from the wall to prevent this, or else the night time recordings are almost unusable. 

Phil4432

Thanks for the reply.  The installer 3 out of 4 cameras partially pointing towards one neighbors house, which seems a bit strange.  Basically, every time my friends step out of the house there's a camera on them.  The installer has said that there are the privacy blocks you mentioned, but its not great.

Told my friend that as you said, it'll add to their security for free which is a bonus. 

If someone wants to look at you for their window, there's not much you can do to stop them.  However with cameras you get the feeling that you are being watched and recorded 24/7.  With modern tech, they can even do that from their smartphones at home.

It seems that there's nothing you can really do about this legally, if someone claims that they have CCTV installed for the security of their home.  All seems a bit strange.

williamgriffin

Tell your friend to speak to the local council, they'll have someone who deals with such matters and can go out and see if the cameras are overly intrusive. 

Ant555

This is a camera on one side of my house camera covering a gate (my house is the brick wall on the right of course) as you can see the camera is basically pointing towards my neighbour and it does look weird when stood outside as it just looks to be pointing towards his and not mine.
As you can see, its lucky for me that this simply covers his flat roof and he is OK with that as he said it might show someone hopping over his roof but if that was a garden or a back door then it would be a bit awkward which I guess is your situation.


PS - My cameras are very visible and are intended mostly as a deterrent in the hope that it sends any bad guys elsewhere. I cant remember the last time I watched any 'recordings' of anything.

SteveJW

Question
If the privacy mask is on the right hand side of the screen, does moving the camera to the right, so the area that is clear moves to the right, can you now view the area previously masked out
If so defeats the object of a privacy mask

Solution

Bright security light pointing at the camera

Nasty solution laser pen

Not condoning any of the above :-)

Phil4432

williamgriffin said:

Tell your friend to speak to the local council, they'll have someone who deals with such matters and can go out and see if the cameras are overly intrusive. 

The local council specialize in doing F' all round these parts!

Ant555

SteveJW said:

Question
If the privacy mask is on the right hand side of the screen, does moving the camera to the right, so the area that is clear moves to the right, can you now view the area previously masked out
If so defeats the object of a privacy mask

Just tried it on mine - the privacy mask is on the recorded footage, as if you have put tape over a section of the camera lens (I can set up four separate masked areas for each camera)
If I were to move the camera to the right then the same area of the camera picture would be blacked out but then I wouldnt have the correct area that I did want to record in view.

williamgriffin

Phil4432 said:

williamgriffin said:

Tell your friend to speak to the local council, they'll have someone who deals with such matters and can go out and see if the cameras are overly intrusive. 

The local council specialize in doing F' all round these parts!

So what was their response?

Phil4432

Had a quick look early this morning, the camera at the front can see a part of their driveway, the camera at the rear can see the back of their garden.

Told my friend that the easy solution would be to grow their bushes higher at the back, but then that would be above the 2m required for garden law.  Looking down my neighbors gardens, several houses seem to have fir trees above 2m in height. 

The camera at the front garden isn't great, but it is a free security deterrent.

These particular neighbors are entitled idiots, but they are not violent and don't strike me as sexual predators.  Not the best feeling to be recorded at home though.  

Saying that, if someone wanted to record you without your consent, they'll do it.  Doesn't take much to hold a smart camera up to a window.