I was wondering what action I can take with regards to a neighbour who has just recently moved a CCTV camera into his bedroom and is pointing it directly at our front door and two bathroom windows.
We live in a courtyard development (5 houses) and the camera is about 10-15 metres away and clearly visible. He already has an external camera pointing towards his own door which is absolutely of no consequence, but I feel the second camera is in violation of our rights to privacy. We have recently had some flooding issues, although his property was not affected. The emergency services were called and he was seen standing watching everyone and even the fire brigade felt the need to comment. Later that day when council representatives were on site, in front of witnesses he "flew" at my wife and invaded her space and verbally attacked her. What can I do?The main laws surrounding the use of CCTV are contained within the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 but these do not cover domestic residences. It is perfectly legal for a resident to install CCTV (even with recording and playback capabilities) and, in the normal course of events, this will be done to protect one's own property against the threat of intruders and trespassers.
If you're concerned that your neighbour's camera is pointing towards your property or windows, you can quickly check your legal position using our free CCTV and Privacy Checker.
When installed correctly and used for the right purpose, residents who have installed CCTV will tend to have a positive effect on the reduction of crime and anti-social behaviour occurring in the neighbourhood, as would be perpetrators of such actions would be less inclined to commit offences for fear of being caught on camera.
The problem, as you rightly pointed out, lies in the fact that you perceive that one of your neighbours' CCTV cameras is pointing directly at your property and this is a Privacy Issue. As far as the law goes in this regard, it would be covered by the Human Rights Act under your rights to privacy. Article 8 of the Act entitled "The Right to Respect for Private and Family Life, Home and Correspondence" means that your neighbour might well be breaking the law here.
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Try our CCTV and Privacy Checker free, here on this site →Ideally, it would be better if you could speak to the neighbours politely, explain the situation to them and request that they make certain modifications to the CCTV system so that it does not infringe on your privacy. However, given you stated that the man verbally attacked your wife, the likelihood would seem to suggest that he would not be prepared to listen. Incidentally, the fact that the man verbally attacked your wife might be also covered under the Human Rights Act in terms of harassment alone. It's also likely that his behaviour will have been mentally noted, at least, by the council representatives so that could obviously go in your favour.
Therefore, I think you have every right to contact your local authority or local police force and have them come out to investigate. They would obviously need to be satisfied that the installation was basically Causing Harassment, perhaps even bordering on voyeurism, and they could then take action. Alternatively, get some advice first from a solicitor who has specialist knowledge in this area.
Common questions
Can my neighbour point a CCTV camera at my house?
A camera that captures your garden, windows or doorway has to comply with data protection law. The ICO treats domestic CCTV that covers other people's property as personal data processing, which gives you rights. The first step is asking your neighbour to reposition it, calmly and ideally in writing.
What law covers neighbour CCTV in the UK?
The UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 apply where domestic cameras film beyond the owner's property. The neighbour needs a clear lawful basis, has to keep footage secure and must respond to a subject access request from you. Persistent refusal can be reported to the ICO.
Can I make my neighbour take their camera down?
Rarely on the first request, but a written ask backed by data protection law often gets the camera repositioned. If the camera is being used to intimidate, the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 may also apply. The council, the police and the ICO each have a role depending on the conduct.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
Our neigbour points their CCTV at our property all the time. According to the manufacture the camera can audio record with noise cancelling up to 30 feet away from the camera with crystal clear audio. It can audio record our conversations in rooms with open windows, so for us, that is more than 2/3rd of our home, both bedrooms, my office, dinning room, hall and porch, including more than half of my
driveway too.
I have been looking into this for a number of weeks now, and the legal remedies that exist is zero. The ICO may or may not send a letter to the property recording you, that will be the most they will do, but in most cases they will do nothing.
The only real cause of action you have is to move house!
The ICO will do nothing for you, they do not act on domestic CCTV complaints, the police will do nothing for you, unless the harrassment involves other things, like damage to property, shouting abuse at you or threatening violent behaviour.
The GDPR are unenforcable, yes they exist, yes data controllers mucst comply to them, but unless you take very expensive legal action, then they exist in name only, but there is no reasonable way of enforcig them with regards to domestic CCTV.
I have tried to get a solicitor to represent me but I have been unable to, they only take on cases involved in business, so there is no legal remedy for you either.
The options you have are put up or install barriers, like a fence, plant a tress or bush, or put climing plants to block the camera. However, nothing will stop the audio recording, so you will have to close your windows when you want to phone your bank, as the audio can record your security details through a open window. In our case audio can be clearly heard up to 30 feet away from the camera which covers the 4 main rooms in our home.
At this point in my investigations, no one will help you to enforce the GDPR for domestic CCTV and audio monitoring on domestic properties.
If you own your property and your neighbour owns their property there is little you can do legally if it looks over at your property
It is only harassment if something else has occured, the fact there is a camera is NOT harassment.
It can only be moved if it breaches local bye laws
Police have no power to move it.
Providing they follow Data protection laws it will be lawfull
WHAT IT CANT DO
It cannot look directly into a bathroom.
If you live in social housing, or tenanted along with your neighbour, you may be able to asked the authority or landlord of the CCTV owners property to step in.
If you are unlucky enough to be in this situation and the CCTV owner refuses to move the camera, unfortunately the reality is you are likely stuck with it.
I have such a neighbour and am trying at all costs to leave and move from the area, as my neighbour has positioned a ring motion camera in such a way that I can neither avoid or blind its scope of view when approaching my own home, and its perfectly legal they can do this. i suspect its also stopping me from selling my house as viewers see it as they approach the home.
Blinding or touching the camera in any way will lead to accusations of criminal damage, there is nothing you can do in some circumstances to mitigate their effects.
Luckily I have a stone wall separating my garden and their accessway, so have several options to blind the camera via a wooden or closely spaced metal bar fence to raise the height. As soon as I have the materials ready to do the work, the time and weather I will built it. No point in talking to people with CCTV, police nor council will do anything. I won't let it go unanswered and neither should you.
Younger members of village market traders economy made petition to village elders, but Grbnoiga did not carings, did not listen and made application to installings more prominent camera, making installings even without permission.
Grbnoiga is badman of extreme murmurings in the village.
"Look", I say to young Tchoborbi, "I must make warnings against younger members of community passing the house of Grbnoiga to avoid capturings of their daily doings, for Grbnoiga films and films in perpetual high fidelity, day and night and sells upmade footages to Serbian trampfighters".
But Tchoborbi takes woodens step ladders and stands upon wooden tyretable making superhigh uplifting device and scrambles upwards towards Grbnoiga's mountainous installation of camera watching equipments.
"Serbian trampfighters will not see me now, plus you owes me smoneys for previous uninstugated webcam promotion scheme, foolish Grbnoiga." Tchoborbi makes screamings into window of Grbnoiga.
Grbnoiga leanings out of tall louvred window at very top level of staggered balcony, reaching with fishhook on metal pole towards Tchoborbi's eyes, screaming,
"Do not tamper, I will blind you! I will blind you!"
Torontomoni Is suddenly below camera footage installation with many rags soaked in petroleum. There are warnings, there have been many warnings and Grbnoiga has not ceased or desisted in filming footages of village youngers to sellings to Serbian trampfighters, so Torontonomi flares with great gushings of sound and flame a small piece of lit tinder beneath such pilings of rag soaked petroleum stuffs.
Tchoborbi leaps with such fervour away from house of Grbnoiga the trampfight fanatic, pulling stepladder and runnings, screaming noises of rats in distressing circumstances.
Two days of burnings melted all evidence of Grbnoiga's camera scam business.
The youngers of village economy market traders guild now walk peacefully where Grbnoiga's two tier house of deceit once stood, Grnoiba having fled owings smonies to Serbian trampfighter head of mafia business.
Tchoborbi now smakes smonies with lemomaids stall business on remainder of unmelted wooden tyre table.
sound in my property.he said he has to think
of his own security but I’m not happy about it and my wife is now paranoid of speaking privately outside in the garden.
I have contacted their house association to complain about this.. NO action has been taken… !
The Director resides abroad, in India, but still watches these footages from where he is and calls staff for interrogation.
The CCTV footage has also been made available to members of public in the past and shared via social media, in which it shows 2 members of staff in a verbal and physical dispute. This caused the involved parties to feel hugely humiliated and embarrassed to return to work. This is breach of Data.
The footage recorded of staff is not safe in the hands of these directors and they are abusing their powers by constantly watching the cctv and then phoning staff asking them to move certain things around or question how many coffees staff have had etc etc. This surely cannot be a feasible way to use the CCTV and goes again basic employee rights. It is being used to threaten staff that if they are caught being slightly relaxed their contracts will be terminated.
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