NC for this because they’d definitely be able to tell it’s me.
I live in the middle of a little row of terraced houses. It is a quiet area and we never get any kind of trouble. My neighbours to the right of me (a couple) appear to be excessively security conscious. They have a German Shepard guard dog that barks at the tiniest sounds or movement in the day and at night (for probably about 50% of the time constantly) and it’s very aggressive. They have two CCTV cameras on the front pointing in the same direction as each other (neither at their door, never understood this) which I’m pretty sure cover some if not all of my front garden. We have a shared wide driveway and access to the back of the houses sort of going round from one end of the terrace. It’s so hard to explain the layout but most of us use it daily either in a car or on foot. They have a very inconspicuous tiny camera facing away from their house on their boundary wall of the shared driveway at the back. It covers the driveway and not any of their garden, gate or house. As far as I’m aware this is highly illegal as you cannot have CCTV that doesn’t cover your property. They do not have any signs stating they have CCTV and the one at the back is so hidden it would be hard for most people to notice. It’s also really close to me when I walk past so they would have a very clear close up image of everyone.
It makes me feel sick that I can’t have a private life. They know when I leave and exit my house, who is in it and when, even down to what supermarket I go to if they pay that much attention. I can’t even put the bin out without knowing they’re probably watching me. I have to cover my toddler with a blanket whenever passing the cameras because I don’t know who or what they might be. I don’t want someone to have images of my child. It’s got to the point where I don’t leave the house unless I really need to it’s awful. They are nosy busybodies and are at home all day every day. I can’t use my back garden because every time I go out there the wife watches me from their open bathroom window. They’re just so creepy I hate to imagine how many of us they watch and what is done with the footage.
Now some may think I’m being a bit over the top but they have exhibited very hostile and downright bizarre behaviour the whole time I’ve been here. I think it’s because I’m young (25). They’ve done stuff like cut down all the trees and kill the flowers in both my front and back garden when I was on holiday. They always stare me down until I leave their sight and give me horrific looks as if I killed their entire family. I have ironically never spoken to them apart from the generic first ‘you alright’ when moving in.
I have an email drafted to the correct authorities about the cameras. It’s gone past the point of being able to speak to them about it first. I just want the camera over the shared driveway to be removed so I can at least exit out my house one way and not been seen. Why can’t people just have respect for others privacy I’m so stressed and it’s not good for my little girl