Indoor CCTV camera facing my front door?

Spender£

An older couple over the road have a small camera on the front bow window shelf facing directly at my front door!

I don't like the fact that it can see our movements even though i doubt the couple would be up to anything suspect, I am wondering if to politely ask them to move it towards their porch front door (which is surely where you would need it pointing). 

I'm sure it is probably innocent although they are friends with a very nosey neighbour down the road who regularly asks me where i work and what hours i do, She was at the doorstep of this house recently mentioning my name and pointing over, Since then this small camera has appeared facing the front door!

Do i have any rights on this or is it just a grey area?

DanDare999

Spender£ said:

An older couple over the road have a small camera on the front bow window shelf facing directly at my front door!

I don't like the fact that it can see our movements even though i doubt the couple would be up to anything suspect, I am wondering if to politely ask them to move it towards their porch front door (which is surely where you would need it pointing). 

I'm sure it is probably innocent although they are friends with a very nosey neighbour down the road who regularly asks me where i work and what hours i do, She was at the doorstep of this house recently mentioning my name and pointing over, Since then this small camera has appeared facing the front door!

Do i have any rights on this or is it just a grey area?

It's a data protection matter, you can ask the data manager to provide you with copies of any data they hold about you. Other than that it's a polite request to ask it to be moved.

Brie

I wonder if you could approach them and say something like "it appears your camera isn't set up correctly to show you the people approaching your door.  Do you need some help to ensure you are getting the view you want??"  And further ...."it's just it seems silly to point it towards my house instead of trying to protect your own" so they know you've clocked it.

Nothing the matter in general with having a camera pointing out to the street or even walking about taking picture of the neighbourhood.  But a fixed camera that appears to be intruding on your privacy is a bit different.  Certainly wouldn't be allowed if it was a bloke aiming a camera into your garden where you like to sunbath etc.

impoverishedtraveller

I do hate linking to the daily mail, but you could perhaps show them this…

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10087671/amp/EVERY-Ring-doorbell-customer-face-100-000-fine-landmark-ruling.html

Then politely ask to re angle so as not to pick up your door.

Alderbank

impoverishedtraveller said:

I do hate linking to the daily mail, but you could perhaps show them this…

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10087671/amp/EVERY-Ring-doorbell-customer-face-100-000-fine-landmark-ruling.html

Then politely ask to re angle so as not to pick up your door.

I agree with you about linking to or even reading the Daily Fail. Don't do it.

There are plenty of better sites assessing this strange case which did have a lot of notoriety back in the day.
Here is one:
https://www.warnergoodman.co.uk/site/blog/news/revisiting-cctv-after-fairhurst-v-woodard

Standing back from the specifics of the case, it seems that installing cameras that record audio and video outside of the boundary of your property will rarely be harassment. It was only the extremely poor conduct of the Defendant that lead to the court’s finding in this case that it was.

The judge remarked that  “the level of belligerence, dishonesty, threats and oppressive behaviours exhibited by the Defendant was unusual and alarming behaviour amounting to harassment.”

The Court of Appeal held that the mere over looking from one property to another is not capable of constituting a private nuisance. This over looking likely includes recording by camera.

In other words, the courts agree that cameras themselves do not cause harassment even if they record your property. The finding of harassment in this famous case was because of the level of belligerence, dishonesty, threats and oppressive behaviours of the owner of the cameras. He terrified Dr Fairhurst forcing her to move out of her own house into a hotel.

In our case here the OP does not accuse the old couple over the road of any of these behaviours, so they and their camera are safe from action for nuisance or harassment.
I agree that data protection is more nuanced.

mobileron

You leave your house to go to the shop which has cctv,u will pass 20 other cctvs on the way.
What u trying to hide,when your burgled at least your neighbour will know who did it.

Aylesbury_Duck

mobileron said:

You leave your house to go to the shop which has cctv,u will pass 20 other cctvs on the way.
What u trying to hide,when your burgled at least your neighbour will know who did it.

But what if it was the neighbour what did it? 

DullGreyGuy

I appreciate cameras are legally different but they could be a curtain twitcher who physically sat there 12 hours a day looking out of the window at you and your neighbours and then that wouldnt be covered by any DPA/GDPR type legislation.

At least if someone did break into your place or vandalised your car on the drive etc then there's a greater chance of catching the person based on their footage

shiraz99

There's likely tens of thousands of doorbell cameras up and down the country looking out onto their opposite neighbours homes that doesn't cause any problems. I'm sure your neighbours opposite have better things to do than monitor your daily movements. The camera itself is unlikely to be recording full time and tbh would be pretty useless as a motion activated security camera stuck behind a window.

If you're really that concerned about your privacy then have a quiet word with them to see exactly what they are monitoring.

boobyd

Not to sure it is "pointing at front door" as in deliberate.
Do they have a front garden, does it have flowers s etc, have they a car parked out front, has there been any vandalism? Not everything is nefarious. 
If a narrow terraced road with door /window, pavement road then maybe an issue.
What If it was a smart doorbell? 

WhiskersTheWonderCat

If you're across the street, then it's highly unlikely the wide angle camera that these sorts of cameras have, would be able to see much. Your front door is probably just a tiny speck in the background of the image. I'm going to assume that the camera is pointing across their property/front garden/drive? I imagine that is what they want to see.