security cameras and privacy etc.

ThisIsWeird

Apodemus said:

If a Police Officer suggests to a member of the public that they should use a surveillance camera to gather evidence, would that not fall under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and get the PO into a lot of trouble if they had not made sure that the activity was suitably licenced?   They would be authorising covert surveillance.

Covert recording is a different issue.

mandy47

We installed CCTV a few years back after ongoing issues with our crazy neighbours. We blacked out the area above the fence line so they couldn't say we were spying on them. Police were involved and said we were within our rights to install the cameras and has we couldn't see their property we were fine.
A few years later they were burgled and had the nerve to knock our door to see if our cameras had picked anything up!

worried123

Many thanks for everyones advice and input.  I managed to catch her pouring stuff on my doorstep today...she has been doing this regularly for 5 years.  I have a lot of footage of it and cannot believe that when i took my camera in last to recharge..its wifi...i did not blank out her door so i have footage of her coming out of her door and then over to my doorstep three times to throw stuff on my doorstep (its quite disturbing..she is quite mad and its occult stuff that she throws...crushed crystals and herbs and pours this salty water over them    it blows my mind....she looks drunk in the footage and cannot walk straight and looks up at the camera and smiles......the police want evidence of her doing this particular thing and suggested cctv.....now i am a bit worried at sendint them the footage as her door is not blanked out.

i did look at a .Gov thing and it said basically that the powers that be....whoever it is that deals with these issues with privacy etc cannot actually do anything should somebody complain...they would write to you about the issue but cannot force you to do anything about it.

I think that i also read that providing something is in place for your safety and protection - and mine is - its okay if it incidentally picks up on neighbours property.  There are no windows on the side the camera points and her front door oly has very small opaque windows right at the top....

i am wondering if its safe to forward footage to the police....its the neighbourhood police but she then refers to her colleagues who are police officers....

ThisIsWeird

Of course it bludy is.
Don't hesitate.

ThisIsWeird

Obviously give them a COPY, and not the original. And make a back-up copy too.

worried123

ThisIsWeird said:

Obviously give them a COPY, and not the original. And make a back-up copy too.

many thanks ThisIsWeird.....so is my neighbour!!!  thank you.

outtatune

WeAreGhosts said:

The Fairhurst v Woodward case that was referred to earlier is slightly different. He was really only prosecuted because his filming was excessive (camera on a shed) and he shared data (specifically audio) with another neighbour who was not involved at all. It was the audio part that was of real concern to the judge.

As long as you are using CCTV to detect crime (harassment, intimidation, criminal damage, in your case) and have a privacy mask for the neighbour's privacy then you'll be fine. 
If you read the Domestic CCTV Systems page you'll find they can't actually do anything anyway. They can't enter your home, or retrieve your footage. https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/domestic-cctv-systems/
If the police ask you about it, say you're using it for your own safety and to collect evidence of a crime, then remind them that it's a civil matter.

His filming wasn't just excessive. It was specifically for the purposes of harrassing his victim.

You can read the court's judgement here, it's pretty damning.

https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Fairhurst-v-Woodard-Judgment-1.pdf

worried123

I read little bit of that link fairhurst v woodward.....gosh could not read it all....and certainly tbis chap was out of order...his poor neighbour!!  .I think i need to stop worrying.  I forwarded footage to the police and they said nothing about the privacy aspect....Also there is no way she personally could take any legal action towards me as she could not afford it and also what a nice can of worms it might open in a court of law that she has been up to and my reasons for needing cameras

markin

outtatune said:

WeAreGhosts said:

The Fairhurst v Woodward case that was referred to earlier is slightly different. He was really only prosecuted because his filming was excessive (camera on a shed) and he shared data (specifically audio) with another neighbour who was not involved at all. It was the audio part that was of real concern to the judge.

As long as you are using CCTV to detect crime (harassment, intimidation, criminal damage, in your case) and have a privacy mask for the neighbour's privacy then you'll be fine. 
If you read the Domestic CCTV Systems page you'll find they can't actually do anything anyway. They can't enter your home, or retrieve your footage. https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/domestic-cctv-systems/
If the police ask you about it, say you're using it for your own safety and to collect evidence of a crime, then remind them that it's a civil matter.

His filming wasn't just excessive. It was specifically for the purposes of harrassing his victim.

You can read the court's judgement here, it's pretty damning.

https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Fairhurst-v-Woodard-Judgment-1.pdf

Ok he's a bit of a fibber and she had freinds that were willing to be good witnesses, but shes a loon "“[I] would urgently like to see what your real cam does cover at the back/parking pls. I do *not* want my or my visitors ‘seen’ by cameras”. "

She's in full public view and that's all the cameras can see, end of story!


This bit is a clear Joke and she's calling it the start of harassment.

"The Defendant’s response to that was to send the Claimant two still photographs of herself standing by the Defendant’s car that morning, together with a message saying, “This was our latest suspicious behaviour this morning which we had to report to the police”.

The Defendant confirmed that he had captured those stills from footage from the Shed Camera, which had been triggered by the Claimant’s presence near his car.

62. The Claimant submits that the Defendant knew full well that those were pictures of the Claimant, and not evidence of any suspicious behaviour which needed to be reported to the police.

She relies on that message as part of a course of conduct amounting to harassment."


And more delusions of persecution...

"The Claimant’s evidence is that she perceived his text message and the images he sent her to be a form of intimidation. She said that she considered he was warning her not to ask him about or otherwise pursue her concerns about his surveillance activity and threatening to misuse the images that he was capturing of her going to and from her house if she displeased him in any way"

Richard1212

Security is very much on my mind as we and family are off to our house in the Seychelles this week.

I have cameras at the main gate ( with entry phone) as well as around the house itself; and lights in the grounds and around buildings. Alarms everywhere including all windows and doors---direct connection to police. Also frequent night security staff visits. 

But a long period away, such as the forthcoming 5 or 6 weeks has made me hire a live-in security guard who will be housed in the flat above the garages block. And our cleaning lady will pop in every day. So nobody's going to steal my favourite Des O'Connor LPs  

Hope the forum keeps churning out all those interesting facts that enthral us all so much.