To not want neighbour to be able to video our house and garden through cat cam

[TrioofTrumps]

I posted this in the litter tray but no replies so posting here for traffic.

Our neighbours young cat has a cat cam collar on. We have two young cats who are a similar age and they have struck up a friendship. Their cat is in our garden around my children every day after school.I was starting to feel uncomfortable about the fact this cat is essentially recording my children in our garden.
It has ramped up now though as with the hot weather we have our doors propped open and it is coming in our house.
Where do I stand legally as despite chasing him out when we see him he is in our house most days recoding us.

This!!

I'd find it pretty difficult to relax in my own fucking home knowing that someone's pet cam was filming me. Regardless of whether they watch it or not. You have a reasonable expectation of privacy in your own property.

This is peak Mumsnet. Its the most Mumsnet thing I've ever seen.

I would do it though, because these cunts who are filming in other people's gardens need to understand they are behaving in a very antisocial way.

I am clearly a peak MN person!

I think this could be considered an invasion of your privacy as it is effectively a form of CCTV being operated by them but on your property. I'd have a word because it seems unnecessary, it would certainly make me uncomfortable.

Speak to the owners.

I would like to put a cat cam on my cat to see where she goes - but it would get boring after a while. Also my cat never keeps a collar on.

of they want it to know where the cat is could you suggest they have a good tracker instead of a camera.

plant Trees. Cats always lose collars on trees.

If it is capable of recording audio, I'd be very uncomfortable at the thought of being recorded without any warning. It could be extremely awkward!

I'd probably try speaking to them first to be certain it is a camera, whether or not it records audio, etc. If they don't take your concerns seriously, I'd start removing it whenever the cat came into my garden or home. Make them come over and retrieve it every time!

Neither are cats

Neither are cats

Unless your neighbour is happy to put a device costing ££££ on an easily lost cat collar, it isn't likely to be a camera, and certainly not one that can record audio. Cameras just aren't that small and light enough for a cat to wear unless you're paying silly money. It's almost certainly a tracker. Even most trackers don't record in real time either (the ones that do are larger, heavier and have expensive subscriptions)

I'd suggest having a word with your neighbour and finding out what it is first.

If its a dark blue rectangle, its simply a tracker, with no camera.

ICO guidance

Covers CCTV and ring doorbells

Domestic CCTV systems | ICO

However:

These rules only apply to fixed cameras. They do not cover roaming cameras, such as drones or dashboard cameras (dashcams) as long as the drone or dashcam is used only for your domestic or household purposes.
It is difficult to enforce these rules, as it is not easy to find out if the person acts on a request to delete footage. We wouldn’t find it a fair or balanced action to go into a person’s home to find out if they were complying with the law or take other enforcement action.

Are you sure it has a camera?

If you are then pick up the cat and bring it back to the owners stating that either they keep the cat indoors or they allow it outdoors but with no collar on as otherwise you do not wish to have their cat in your garden.

You're imagining wrong I'm afraid - where personal data is captured and only used for 'domestic purposes' then data protection legislation doesn't apply.

So long as the neighbours are only using the camera footage for their own personal use then it'll be classed as domestic purposes and they can pretty much please themselves what they do.

Speaking to the neighbours and asking if the camera can be removed or the cat kept away from her house is the OP's best option.

How?

From the ICO on home CCTV

1. in most circumstances, provide some of the recording if asked by a person whose images have been captured;

From the Government

Guidance on the use of domestic CCTV - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If your CCTV system captures images of people outside the boundary of your private domestic property – for example, from neighbours’ homes or gardens, shared spaces, or from public areas – then the GDPR and the DPA will apply to you. You will need to ensure your use of CCTV complies with these laws. If you do not comply with your data protection obligations you may be subject to appropriate regulatory action by the ICO, as well as potential legal action by affected individuals

Interesting how different in tone the government and ICO guidance is. We delete every Friday, and only watch back if there's something unusual that prompts us to and only downloaded once as we wanted to send to the police.

I've just looked up cat cams and you can get mini ones that a cat could just about carry even if it's a little awkward. They're cheap Chinese factory produced crap that takes a memory card but they do exist and they're cheap. OP are you SURE it's a camera and not an airtag or similar? If it's a camera then I 100% would be politely telling the neighbours that they can't use it if they can't stop their cat from coming into private gardens and houses. And if that fails get a water gun. Scare the ever living shit out of the poor kitty every time it crosses your boundary or is somewhere it can record you like on a shed looking directly at you. Make your garden hostile territory and it will eventually cotton on and avoid that crazy bitch at No.4.

I'd make the garden cat proof. It's not difficult, we did it when we used to have chickens. Plus why are you letting come in the house? It will soon get the message if you chase it out. Don't really see an issue with the camera. Stop encouraging it.

Who the fuck puts a camera on a cat? 🤣

Not if you are filming someone else's property. There have been successful court cases about this.

Filming on YOUR OWN property is fine.
Filming on MY property is invasion of my privacy.

It's a fucking nuisance - I thought you said they weren't allowed to be a nuisance by law.

Cat will probably lose it before long as they often do, and they'll get sick of buying replacements.