A couple have been ordered to remove the security cameras outside their home after privacy concerns were raised by their neighbours.
Steven Cavener and his wife Melanie Diamond-Cavener installed CCTV cameras outside their home at Green’s Place in the town of South Shields, South Tyneside, 12 years ago after attempts were made to steal his van.
But housing association Home Group asked him to remove the cameras last year following complaints by nearby residents who had “concerns for their privacy”.
It said it was “not possible to install cameras in a way that will adequately respect the privacy of other customers”.
According to market researchers Consumer Intelligence, one in five (20%) Britons have a doorbell camera on their home. In addition, almost the same number (21%) have some kind of CCTV installed.
However, of those with a doorbell camera, only half were using it regularly, compared to 85% with CCTV who regularly check their cameras and footage.
What are the laws around doorbell cameras and CCTV in the UK?
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is responsible for enforcing the use of CCTV under two data protection laws – the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act (DPA).
It is legal to record video at your home and data protection laws do not apply if your CCTV or doorbell camera only films within the boundaries of your property.
However, if the camera records outside the boundary of your home, for example in the street or neighbouring homes or gardens, then you do have responsibilities under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
Anyone captured on footage from your camera has the right to ask for a copy, have it wiped or ask not to be filmed in future.
In 2021, a judge ruled that CCTV and a Ring doorbell installed at Jon Woodard’s house in Oxfordshire had “unjustifiably invaded” the privacy of his neighbour, Dr Mary Fairhurst, and breached UK data laws. The judgement found that the doorbell camera captured footage of the claimant’s house and garden.
In September 2022, Kevin Grogan was ordered by a court to take down his “intrusive” CCTV cameras that pointed into his neighbours’ gardens in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
Could this latest case lead to a change in the law?
Austin Lafferty, consultant solicitor at Austin Lafferty Solicitors in Glasgow, said any landlord, including a housing association, should be able to regulate tenants’ use of CCTV or doorbell cameras, and may ask them not to install any systems without the consent of the landlord.
He told Yahoo News UK: “I don’t think we need a change in the law, just greater awareness of the existing legal rules of data protection and personal privacy.”
He said: “If you position your doorbell or CCTV cameras to cover neighbours’ property or public areas, you run the risk of capturing their private data or infringing their lawful privacy. You could even commit a criminal offence of indecency if, for example, your camera covers a bathroom window or a children’s playground.
“Make sure your cameras only see your property. If you can’t avoid some other areas, seek neighbour’s permission to see any part of theirs.”
Lafferty warned: “Don’t assume your home is your castle. In many legal ways we need to live in harmony with those around, and pointing a camera into a neighbour’s garden or toilet is not lawful or reasonable.”
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