Neighbours CCTV invading our privacy

[strawberry17]

Does anyone know how the law stands on CCTV on private property? our neighbour has put two cameras up at the front, and two at the back of the house, which seems excessive, we're not exactly crime central. We don't mind the ones at the front, but the ones at the back are high up, and although pointed slightly away from our garden we can't help worrying that the field of vision is taking in our garden, it's been bothering me for a while, and every time I go out in the back garden I'm wondering and feel a bit self concious. We don't have a very good relationship with them. We have written a polite carefully worded letter and put in their door asking them if they would lower the cameras at the back to below the hedgeline (the hedge is high), does anyone know how the law stands with regards to CCTV?
Thanks

They aren't allowed to film any private property that's not theirs or anywhere accessible to the general public. I'm not sure who you can call in to check officially, but you have every right to insist they are not filming you in your own garden.

The ICO regulates this area, and they have a FAQ section which states:

Q: My neighbour has installed a CCTV camera and it is pointing towards my house/garden. Is this a breach of the Data Protection Act?

If your neighbour?s camera is installed on their residential property and being used for their own personal domestic use, they are unlikely to be breaching the Data Protection Act. This is because the use of CCTV cameras for domestic security purposes is exempt from the data protection principles. This applies when a person uses CCTV to protect their home from burglary, even if the camera overlooks the street or other areas near their home. If your neighbour is using CCTV for business purposes they will need to comply with the Act. If you are concerned about the use of domestic CCTV it may be worth contacting your local police. For more information, contact our helpline or read our topic guide about CCTV.

I suggest you make inquiries with the ICO.

What is "ICO"? and think I will try and talk to our community policeman when I see him. Like I said we don't mind the cameras at the front, but I just want to be sure I'm not being filmed in my back garden.

ICO = Information Commissioner's Office. The ICO deals with Data Protection and Freedom of Information matters.

OK thanks!

In the end, we put a carefully worded letter in their door about the CCTV (a letter because there have been other issues and we don't have the best relationship with them) and the CCTV came down at the back!

Hi, I hope you don't mind me adding to this as I've been through it recently.

After checking with police, council etc, your neighbour can put up a camera and point it at your windows/property and record "for personal use". The police won't do anything about it as they "aren't doing anything illegal". Doesn't matter if there are children about or not. This means they can film children playing out in the street or in your garden. Not a good idea IMHO.

I have started an epetition - I don't want children being recorded for anyones "personal use" anywhere! I'd be grateful if everyone could sign it!

Here's the link:

epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/30675

Glad your neighbour listened to reason, strawberry.

All please note that domestic CCTV Systems are not covered by the Data Protection Act.

Currently the CCTV world is a FREE FOR ALL, domestic CCTV installations do not come under the Data Protection Act, and if anyone does view outside the boundary of their property they are not actually classes as breaking the law and it is not an automatic criminal offence with the automatic right to take that person to court. All the police can do is to ask the OFFENDER to adjust their camera so you are satisfied it is not invading your privacy, normally the offender will do this and some unscrupulous offenders will readjust it several days after the police have left, then you are left in the same position you were in before to ask them to adjust the camera again. However if their camera system has a wide angle of vision and the cameras are fixed lens? which means they are not adjustable? (usually supplied with normal DIY CCTV systems £150 -£200, that comes with 3 or 4 cameras) you are generally stuffed. As the cameras meet the manufacturers and industry standards. their is however a situation where normal CCTV cameras have a V shape area of vision, this means that the area of vision is narrower at the camera and widens out the further away you are away from the camera, so unless the CCTV camera industry redesigns these cameras to a more square vision it is inevitable that your neighbours? CCTV camera will catch areas of your property over their boundary. However it is true to say that if the camera is directly pointing at your house you have a right to complain.
DPA The Information Commissioner does however give legal consent for CCTV camera operators to view the "PERIFFERAL" area outside their boundary (legal consent) the DPA license / certificate cost £35.00 and last for 12 months, please note all respectable CCTV systems are installed up to legal / industry standards by specialist security CCTV installers who follow a legal code of conduct. Whereas a DIY effort does not meet required legal standards. where a CCTV system is installed by a industry approved installer of CCTV systems they must provide a NSI certificate to certify that the installation meets legal and industry standards, usually any CCTV operator will be happy to show you a copy of this NSI certificate, also they are happy to show you a copy of their DPA license. There has been some confusion over whether the home owner can survey their other vehicle which is parked on the road side directly outside their property with the public pavement between their boundary and their vehicle on the roadside, after contacting the ICO this is turned as in the "PERREIFARAL" area of the boundary and in fact the ICO has no issues about any DPA licensed operator carrying out such activities.
Please note that many neighbours in streets and cul-de-sacs with or without a neighbour hood watch scheme are installing their own single PRIVATE SHARED NEIGHBOUR HOOD / NEIGHBOURS CCTV SECURITY SYSTEM, this means 3 neighbours or more directly next door to each other agree to allow their frontage and vehicles covered by a remote CCTV camera to detect / prevent crime / anti-social behaviour / theft and vandalism to vehicles etc. this is most common where the public authorities do not have the financial funding to put a community CCTV system? but the area does suffer from high rates of criminal activity, in such cases a DPA licence is required and the system must be NSI approved as the local police will need to download CCTV footage from that system to pursue criminal charges against thieves etc. committing crime in your area.
These approved CCTV systems have the appropriate software that is compatible with your local constabulary, however many of these cheap DIY systems cannot be downloaded by the authorities.
Thieves are getting clever as well as their barristers, if the CCTV camera operator does not have a warning sign up around the boundary of their premises, or have a NSI approved and industry standard installed CCTV system that ANNUALLY has a service maintenance contract attached to it you will find that the courts are routinely throwing out such poorer DIY CCTV footage, thus thousands of ordinary people are installing DIY systems and fail to realise that their CHEAP system may not be used as evidence in a court of law, which is usually the very reason they had it installed in the first place!
I hope this article has cleared up many of your questions about domestic CCTV systems and the upgraded privilege of having a DPA data controllers license which is above the normal rules and regulations for a DIY CCTV system just surveying within your neighbours property.
Their are several other issues I could address in future articles.

Will CCTV protect against zombies?

TAKE THAT CAMERA DOWN! May I also advise everyone that no offended neighbour has the automatic legal right to perceivably force a neighbour to take down a CCTV camera etc. if you check with your local police constabulary they will show you a copy of the rules and regulations that clearly states any home owner or occupier is lawfully entitled to install their own security CCTV system to protect themselves and their property, only UNDER EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD ANYONE BE FORCED BY A COURTOF LAW? TO REMOVE THEIR CCTV CAMERA. The police treat these issues mainly as a "CIVIL MATTER", this means the police can raise an incident number and provide evidence to a court of law, however you will have to put your hand in your own pocket or bank account and pay for your own legal proceedings in a court of law. WARNING be advised that as the law currently stands you are lawfully entitled to install your own CCTV system, the judge will most likely remind you that at the court hearing, thus under current laws you are very highly likely to lose your court case, this means the neighbour you have taken to court has the legal right to COUNTER SUE YOU (issue to costs) for costs, damages and compensation for wrongly forcing them to appear at court, so a simple application to court with or without a solicitor costing up to £300 could in fact cost you £600 - £700 if you fail to win your case. If the court orders you to pay your wrongly accused neighbour their issue to costs and you fail to comply with that court order and pay your neighbour. Your neighbour can pay £60 to the court and enforce that charging order, this means just like on TV that two big burly men like bouncers will turn up on your door step and demand full payment with extra added fees and interests, thus it could easily escalate to £1,500. Being high court bailiffs with a live writ they can remover your car from your driveway and contents from inside your house whether you like it or not, and if you call the police they will only attend to keep the peace, the police cannot lawfully stop the high court bailiffs from removing your property to be sold off at auction.
There is however circumstances where local public authorities like your local council can automatically go to court and have your camera removed for anti-social behaviour in collaboration with the police! Such an example would be a private CCTV camera overlooking the local council owned school and playground, thus the parents concerns raised to the school headmaster and the local council authority.
Basically it is all self explanatory if you think about it, but in short no disgruntled neighbour has the automatic lawful right to have another neighbours CCTV camera removed.

Obviously not, HerOtherHalf

That neighbours CCTV pointing directly at your window. Stand in your house and lift two fingers to it as often as a you feel like. If they complain it will prove they are looking at you IN YOUR HOUSE through their camera.... and no doubt zooming in on your privacy. That is harassment and you can report them. Another method will be to shine a laser beam directly at the camera lens. Another method which is highly effective... poke the thing with a long stick and if it is in reach belt it with a baseball bat.

Does it prove harassment if she does this FIVE years after she posted the thread?!

I live in a block of 5 flats ( old conversion). We have shared forecourt well secluded from the street. There has never been incident of crime.
My neighbour on first floor has put CCTV in his kitchen window overlooking the forecourt, recording my comings and goings. We all have separate entrances and if he wanted to guard his door and car, he could have done it without capturing the images of other neighbors.
I feel practically harassed and am very stressed about it. Does anyone know if he has right to do it?

@Mir8jana you should start your own new thread, this is very old.

We are in our 5th year about this matter
Proving that your neighbour is abusing the privacy law that first thing that you have prove.
Once you established the privacy law is breached.
They are no long using their cctv as domestic and have breached the data protection act.
This year 2018( ico) has introduce the 1997 harassment act which allows you to challenge the cctv.
Contact your MP

Not sure why this thread has been revived again but the new post is wrong. The ICO has not "introduced" the 1997 "harassment act" (actually the Protection from Harassment Act 1997). The ICO has no powers to do any such thing.

The law remains unchanged. CCTV should be positioned to minimise intrusion on other people's privacy. If you erect CCTV you should consider using filters to reduce intrusion if necessary.

Your MP does not have any powers to act. The ICO does. You don't need to go through your MP to raise a problem with the ICO.

Help,
My ex neighbour moved out last year. His cctv camera is working and still on my private wall. He told a friend that He still can view it on his phone. Am not happy. I want the Camber off my private wall. Have I got right to tell him to remove it?

If it’s your wall why don’t you remove it? While you’re at it find out about the “start a new thread” function at the top of this page.

Thank you so much. Am OAP, cannot reach the top to remove it myself. I will ask family/friend. Thanks again.🙂