Do your neighbour's security cameras make you uncomfortable? Here's what you can do
Do your neighbour's security cameras make you uncomfortable? Here's what you can do
Many Australians can now access surveillance tech, but this can lead to disputes between neighbours. Here's a breakdown of some of the legal issues that can crop up.
This is getting more and more relevant all the time.
I have cameras. I told my neighbours about them and showed where they were pointed. I blacked out private areas when they were unintentionally picked up. No complaints.
I also walk past a camera that has been placed so that it only records the public footpath. Pisses me off, because its not protecting their house/property, just recording the public.
Genuinely curious, why do you hate public cameras/cctv?
I don't hate all public cameras, I live in an area with lots of them, and most are fine enough.
This one in particular irks me because it doesn't serve a purpose beyond voyeurism. It doesn't cover the any of the persons property, or any entranceways to their property. Its only for monitoring people in the street. It might be technically a public places, and technically legal for anyone to record, but I really don't think that makes it a good idea for everyone to just record everything.
I have seen kids running around naked in their front yard just down the road from this camera, so that also raises questions.
I'd prefer if surveillance of public places was left to law enforcement, at least there is a theoretically some form of oversight.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Over recent years, countless private security cameras have appeared in our neighbourhoods, as surveillance tech has become cheaper, better and much more easily accessible.
Professor McDonald headed up the Australian Law Reform Commission's inquiry into Serious Invasions of Privacy in the Digital Era in 2014.
When it comes to surveillance devices, people now have access to video, sound, night vision and infrared, and the laws are spotty across Australia.
Every time the claimants went into the backyard, their neighbour's camera and lights would come on automatically and film their activities, which they believed interfered with the enjoyment of their land.
It amounted to an old crime called watching and besetting, and it was held that the action of nuisance was made out again," Professor McDonald explains.
"Generally speaking, if somebody has a camera [looking] onto a public street for security purposes, or to capture unpleasant behaviour … there wouldn't be an objection," Professor McDonald says.
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