Is it illegal for my neighbour to have a cctv camera pointing in my garden?

measiam

This is only allowed with your permission.
Also your neighbour must have clearly visible signs notifying people that CCTV is in operation. (even the council have to comply with this) Talk to your neighbour and request they re position their camera or you will inform the police.

BSherman

If the cameras are on the neighbor's property, then they may be aimed anywhere. Video cameras are a common security tool. Cameras are employed by individuals and businesses worldwide and are legally permissible on private property.

You may do whatever you wish on your own property. You may put a fence around your garden or point your own cameras back at the neighbor. Install floodlights and stereo speakers aimed at the neighbor's windows, but beware since the they may retaliate in kind.

Your best option might be to find a mediator to settle the troubles between you and your neighbor. These types of situations may escalate over time, so resolving it is in your best interest. Good luck.

washable mist

call the police

taxed till i die,

You are correct it is an invasion of privacy.

Strife

Call the police

blackpool lass

hiya emma, its against the law, if you phone the police, they will go round to them,and get them to move it, is invading your privacy.

arbiter

In the UK check with the surveillance commissioner's office

http://www.surveillancecommissioners.gov.uk/

Beau R

If they are actually video taping you and your family, it is probably illegal. However if the camera is not being used, or is taping something in your general direction, it is not illegal.

prince_henry

im sorry but i think there's nothing you can do about it
as your neighbour can stand at his bedroom window and watch your kids in your garden how is the CCTV Camera any more intrusive than that.
if he has set it up so that he can see into or onto your property where he could not see with out the use of a Camera, then yes you could argue that it is invading your privacy.
lets be honest your neighbour would not of installed the Camera unless he/she felt it was needed so if you have been winding them up you have really got what you asked for
its time you acted like an adult and said to your neighbour all this silliness is getting out of hand now lets shake hands and just agree to keep to our own side of the fence

knowitall

It IS illegal to take pictures of minors, without the parents consent.
Call the guy a pervert..he'll soon move the camera.

xHelloxBeautifulx

that is so not allowed!
and that is so weird
go to the police now! don't talk to those loons they sound like psychopaths or something very strange!

KeepOnLoving

http://www.pcworld.com/article/117035/law_may_curb_cell_phone_camera_use.html
http://photo.net/street-documentary-photography-forum/009LI0

actually NO! That's why the paparazzi can stalk ppl. They were trying to push for certain types of privacy laws like taking indecent photos of someone which breeched their privacy (like shots of them being naked) or taking video on Federal property. But other than that your neighbor can take video even if it catches some of your back yard. There are no "peeping tom" laws -or I should say that that doesn't fall under the "peeping tom" laws & that's why the paparazzi & the media get away with it. I saw on the news around here how the media went onto the property of a muslim-like school to interview one of the instructors & he got really agitated. Some ppl seem to want to punch the camera ppl but there's really nothing they can do about it. Unless you post a sign that says private & you don't want them to tresspass, but you still can't stop them from video taping while not on the property. That's one reason why private detectives can take pictures & video (have you seen the cheaters show -don't recommend it but it's an example) etc.
Do as one person suggested, get a tarp or patio/garden umbrella that can tilt or awning type thing to be placed in that area to obstruct their view...
I also saw a documentary on tv where this one family was secretly being video taped by their landlord INSIDE their home. (Well, it is their home even if they're only renting.) And since there was no AUDIO involved, he totally got away with it (well the breeching privacy part -they were told they could try the trespassing part of it.) He had a camera pointing down into every room. (Can you imagine?) Up in the attic he had a VCR hooked up to the cameras so he could also watch stuff he missed. He could also sit up there at a desk with a monitor. Creepy! That poor lady was emotionally scarred for a while thinking about all their private marital situations & your bathroom times, etc., being violated. She had got suspicious about him because one morning she was kinda exasperated with her hair & said something out loud like she was having a bad hair day. He came to their door for some reason a while later that day & taunted her by saying, "I think your hair looks fine." He'd do & say weird stuff like that, etc. So they/she probed the place one time & found tiny pin holes in the ceiling where he had little pin hole type cameras directing into the rooms. Technology should do good but some ppl use it abusively. :(
Also, your neighbor has a right to protect him/herself from harrassment &/or false accusations, too. Many people have those security cameras set up around their property & there's no law saying you can't use them if it catches someone else's property.

Also, there's the example of Barbara S. that someone pointed out. I remember that. That's one reason why celebs try to keep some things hush hush or go out of the country (& try to keep that secret -last minute type things) to try & avoid the race to tape.

If someone is egging your house or harrassing you, get your own camera for your own security/defense. Then go get a big yard table with an awning or something & place it where the neighbor's camera is.
I hope whoever is out there with bad will against someone else/others will "grow up" & find something worthwhile & edifying to do that doesn't involve, "I don't like that person, what can I do to them?" or "How do I get even with them..."
I hope you don't resort to anything but the most peaceful thing you can do at the time which is to try to place something that obstructs some of their view. Get your own camera to protect your house from egging & just relax, enjoy your time & deal with anything else as or if it arrises. Try ignoring it in the meantime.

Some ppl with hateful agendas or biases would love to take others freedoms away of protecting themselves & deterring harrassment... That's a crime!

Wouldn't celebs love that if it was a crime to take pix of minors without their consent? Hmmm, exactly why we see celebs & theirs...
scare tactics

I just saw someone's surveillance camera on the news pointing towards some ppls mobile home lots, it captured a li'l girl who was skipping down the street...

***added couple hours later (after the rating of one thumb up & one thumb down) : I understand someone saying it's just not nice to film other ppl's kids in their own back yards. Then again, it's not nice to harrass & throw eggs, etc. I could understand the neighbor pointing a camera that way if kids were habitually throwing something over their back yard fence into the neighbor's yard or at their house, etc. & pestering... or if someone was complaining about the neighbor while others are doing something they shouldn't be either (selective enforcement) & they just need a defense of that & discrimination. Really, if you want surveillance of your own property & your neighbor's property gets into the shot, that's something different (& the above noted) compared to someone who just wants to make someone feel uncomfortable with the "someone's always watching you to be rude, etc." But like I noted above, if it stems out of necessity b-cuz they're being picked on... that's the nicest thing they could do back as a deterrent. At least that's all their doing compared to what's being done to them.

â™¥ Mum to Olivia Rose â™¥

UK - I'd contact the council as apparently you can't have CCTC pointing anywhere away from your property.

Chelsea :)

I Think It Kinda Is Cause Its A Invasion Of privacy.....

I Think You Should Tell Them To Get Rid Of It Its Very Rude

new pop

Depending on what state you live in there are most likely laws to forbid such practices. I would call the police first. Take some photos of the cameras showing their relationship to your property. You may file a civil case against your neighbor in which case your photos will serve as evidence against them.
The cameras pointed at your back yard should definitely be considered an invasion of privacy. You might be able to have an injunction filed against your neighbor, or a court order for them to remove the camera or change its position.
I would try to find more definitive advice but without knowing what state you live in it is difficult.
Good luck...

Hookit

If the camera is not pointing into your home there is nothing that you can do they can say it is covering their back garden and they are ding this to help protest their own property.

I would never suggest you take things in your own hands but maybe take a weekend break and forget to turn off the Hifi play something like the bands of the Coldtream Guards play retreat and have a good weekend away. That's how I sorted a bad neighbour.

Within 2 months they left sold up and moved.

It is good practice not to take photos of a child without parental consent however this person may have the camera in main part covering in his own garden and as such there is nothing the police can do. He can say wel yopu know the camera is there to protect my propery and its hardlines if you do not like it.Also it may be a dumy camera that does not work and is there only to get you going.

He seems very able to get you going, you are making it far to easy for him to wiond you up. You are playing into his hands.

RIPA only covers Police and othr government bodies it does not cover private inderviduals or even private detectives.

beverly

This is a tough one.

Generally, I would say you have a reasonable expectation of privacy in your own (fenced in) back yard. However, it could also be argued that if your neighbor has a window that has open view into your back yard that it is not illegal for your neighbor to stand at that window and stare into your yard; therefore it may also not be illegal for them to film from that location.

This is also, I believe, the basis for all of the satellite and aerial photography these days. I believe that in California, Barbara Streisand recently lost a case where she was trying to prevent a group doing photos of all of the homes on the California coastline from posting a photo of her home on the basis that it invaded her privacy.

Does your neighbor have any reasonable explanation for this, or are you on speaking terms with your neighbor?

In any event, you could also consider putting up a tarp that blocks his camera view. That might get the message across.

You should also check with your local police department and see if they can offer any clarification. While I doubt there will be a local city ordinance for this sort of thing, laws DO vary state to state and you may have some protection.

the_shadow_of_that_albatross

Sounds like invasion of your privacy. See a solicitor (lots of practices offer a free appointment) and get the solicitor to write them a letter detailing your objections and giving them a timescale for removing the camera.

Republicans: politically spent

i would make a record of the wrongs done to you by your neighbor and take them to small claims court and see if you can get a financial settlement in your favor

cclayton28

what if the cctv he has put up is on the opposite side of the street and he is recording my every move.his cctv can view inside my livingroom windows.im having to keep my blinds shut at all times as he can view everything thats going on in my house.he said that i could see where the cameras fall on my ground since i objected to being videoed by him since i dont live on the same side of the street but as yet he has not showed me what part of my home he is watching.his sign that he has up says his premises are covered by cctv audio and video.my home is across the street so why should he be allowed to invade my privacy by virtually being in my home with me with his cameras.we live in a fairly quiet residential street.i have lived in this street for 22years and never had any problems.the problems started when he moved into the street and caused arguments with some of his neighbours some of them not even in the same street.hes only been here a few years.

ashley

I live in a trailer park community in tx. I have had multipul problems with people turning my satilite for my tv completely 180 degrees to knock it out of allignment. they have also vandalized my pull behind trailer that has several valubles in them. Is it illegal to put a camera up to catch the ones doing it?

big t

i have neighbor's from hell...they harrass me and my mom..they play loud music..they even have a camera facing at my bedroom window...but they cant see in cause i have a hurricane board on it...point is....the police wont do nothing to them..they have done this for 10 years now...any idea's to what i can do..?

cap

I have the psyco neighbour...I live in Ontario Canada....my street is full of kids ...he lives alone, mid 40's....stands in his driveway and watches my kids play....he has taunted me, vandalized my property and vehicles and he has now installed a camera facing my driveway... I went to the police....they can't do anything....they did suggest I call his employer and report his erradict behaviour to them...he apparently work for CSIS in canada...equivalent to the CIA in the US....apparently they frown upon this type of behaviour!! Stay tuned!!

Sadya

We share a driveway with our wierd neighbors, today they installed cameras on the side of their house facing our house and whole driveway without asking permission from us, is that legal, not only is the neighbor a pervert but now cameras?? Is that legal in CT???

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