Ring doorbell and privacy

[AInightingale]

Can anyone advise me on these? My neighbour has had one installed on her front door. Our doors are about two feet apart, we share a path and actually a doorstep, which is all one structure- it's a terrace. There is a drainpipe in between, nothing else. Will her device be recording image AND audio of us as we come and go, and conversations with visitors etc? I am very concerned about this, I find it a total intrusion. Is what she has done legal, and have I any way of screening or blocking the sensor so it does not pick up footage from my doorstep? I don't have much knowledge of these systems or how they work.

She might be able to set the detection zone to avoid your doorway but if you are really close that may not be possible. Don't feel intruded upon, it's a safety device. As your properties are so close she knows who comes and goes anyway. You just need to remember it's there as you come and go in terms of conversation.

It's a security device. Our neighbour has one and I am very happy about it.

But surely you're right if you're having a conversation on your doorstep the doorbell is so close it will almost be like the person is on her doorstep so she will be able to hear everything you're saying . I wouldn't like that either .

It will probably pick up people on the path but no one is going to be watching the footage back for the fun of it.

If a person can’t get to your front door without being picked up by the camera, it’s a very good deterrent for any sort of thief coming to your house, so I would be grateful for it rather than being weird about being filmed.
The country is blanketed in CCTV, so you’re being recorded multiple times a day.

Unless you’re selling drugs on your doorstep, I can’t see how this can negatively impact your life in any way

It's entirely legal. Obviously.

If you want a physical screen, you will have to put one up.

I have set my motion detector to only cover my property - so it only detects when someone is on my path (though the camera covers other homes and the public road, it doesn't get triggered by someone on next door's path). You could ask her politely if she's done that - I mean, unlikely she wants to get an alert when you have a visitor anyway.

I don't subscribe to the plan so don't get recordings. I don't know if they live somewhere but I don't have access to them - and I've no interest in the neighbours' comings and goings anyway. Potentially the police could get them if a serious crime were committed within field of the camera, I'd generally see that as a good thing.

I would not be happy at all if my neighbours could listen to conversations via recordings on my doorstep. I could be having a private conversation with my husband for example. This is a massive invasion of privacy.

I hate to break it to you OP but there is CCTV everywhere. And where there isn't CCTV, everyone has a phone these days. Anything you say, anywhere, could be recorded and you can be photographed at any time and there's nothing you can do about it. Good thing most of us aren't interesting enough for anyone to really care about what we're saying or doing, eh?

You could waste your whole life (and life savings) trying to pursue legal claims against everyone who has ever caught a snippet of your conversation on a device.

She can set it to only detect movement in a certain area. If you aren't in the detection zone you could dance the conga naked up your path and her doorbell would never "see" it.

Yes, I am more concerned about the recording of audio tbh. I know you can 'black out' certain areas but does this just cover visual, I wouldn't imagine it would work with audio. I only noticed it yesterday and I had a convo with my brother on the doorstep on Thursday about our mum's care, and I would be fecking livid if that has been recorded. No I'm not a drug dealer but that doesn't mean that 'having nothing to hide' means I want my front door bugged, which is what this is, effectively. She's a nosey woman anyway and if she told me she had audio disabled, I wouldn't believe her.

You neighbor can set it up so that it doesn't trigger on your property or only when someone rings the bell.

However, it isn't illegal and the same rules apply to CCTV systems set up on private property.

You can ask for them to put on privacy measures but there's no way of monitoring that they've been kept that way.

I have a ring doorbell and a shared pathway as you OP. The camera zone is set so that the camera is not triggered unless the neighbours or their visitors step onto my side of the shared doorstep. It does then pick up conversation

To be fair you'd be amazed what things they pick up. I thought we lived in a safe area until we had one installed. I'd be thankful for the security. It won't record unless it senses anything. Have a word with them if you're concerned, it won't offend them if you approach it nicely.

It won't pick up sound without the camera detection zone being triggered.

Does it light up when recording?

in the situation described, the neighbour could stand behind her own front door and hear just as much.
Doorsteps are in the open air I don't think you can have much expectation of privacy!

It's a grey area. There was a legal case a few years back that was claimed as a landmark. It wasn't really, and it didn't set a legal precedent. The accused behaved like a knob and rightly got a kicking.

I think in your scenario in such close proximity, it's going to be almost unavoidable to not be recorded. Even if using the capture screening zones, it sounds like you'll trigger it simply walking across the zone to your door (unless there's a route to your door that doesn't cross the zone).

If the neighbour has stuck up a sticker to say that CCTV is active (ring supply stickers in the box), it goes someway to avoiding legal action, as they're not trying to covertly record, and it's stated intended purpose is security.

In your scenario, I think it's reasonable to ask how it's been setup and that you're conceene about your privacy at your front door.

There are settings on ring where you can add privacy zones. They'll be blocked from recording even if in view of the lense. Additionally there's an option to disable audio streaming and recording, so only video is captured (minus the privacy zone). Audio is then only streamed and recorded when the door bell is actually pressed. It's reasonable for a neighbour to set it up like that, or be asked to do so.

Good luck.

You can chat about the settings. You can also ask for copies of footage if concerned about the range. If set up correctly it should be fine for visual but audio is a concern. There is legal precedent for cases where neighbours have recorded audio.

Another risk from them is they are targeted so people can see when the home is empty. They have to be set up carefully.

support.ring.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4418968133268.html

For reference

You really have conversations with your husband that you wouldn't want to be overheard on your doorstep? Your neighbour could hear you from inside their house if they are standing near the door. Someone in the next garden over could hear you.

Thanks @BasicDad. This woman didn't tell me she was putting this device up, which I think you are meant to given we have shared areas, and I suppose I will have to request to look at her settings to give me peace of mind. I do take the points about 'CCTV everywhere' but I think this is very different- this is our home, not a public place, a business etc.

If you're having private conversations, right next to someone else's front door - when you know they're nosy - seems an odd thing to do.

Standing behind your door in the hope of hearing a juicy conversation would be odd too. Sitting on your sofa eavesdropping would be much easier!

I’d be having some very spicy chats about said neighbour to test it out.

🤣 The potential for mischief is enormous. I might pretend to be a spy and have cryptic conversations with people, exchange mysterious envelopes and packages at 3 am, etc.

You can set up motion zones but may be tricky if shared pathway.

You can also mute audio setting.

We have a ring doorbell and to be honest never listen to the conversation, just look briefly to see who was at the door.

Our neighbour on one side also has a security camera and it doesn’t bother us as feel like it’s an additional security measure.

In the grand scheme of things this isn’t something to get really worked up about.