Neighbour’s security cameras overlooking bedroom, bathroom and garden: any advice?

[Julysunshineishere]

Has anyone experience of being overlooked by their neighbours security cameras?

Our neighbour has installed cameras which record visual and audio in the soffits of his detached house. One of the cameras is directly opposite my daughter's bedroom window, and an other is 16ft directly across from our bathroom window. (I have hung voiles in her bedroom for privacy, but frustrated I've had to do this! We already had a blind for nighttime, she just felt 'spied on').

I feel I'm being watched constantly daily and the neighbour refuses to show me the camera footage, and denies it records audio. It isn't possible to converse with him, we have tried.

I have spoken to a local supplier of the make and model of the camera that is installed and it is a top of the range camera for audio and image.

Having tried to speak to the neighbour and being completely dismissed I just feel like I have to accept the unwanted intrusion into my daily life.

He has also installed sensor lights on the front of his house that light up as soon as I go onto my drive and get in and out of my car or go to my gate.

The legal department of my home insurance say that other than asking him to show me footage , which he won't, I can write a letter requesting any footage of myself and family as he has a responsibility to produce it. I doubt he will do this as it relies upon the neighbour being responsible and honest about what he is recording.
I'm looking into installing a pergola to give us privacy in our garden, as the rear camera is directly over our patio. I did ask that a camera at the rear was repositioned to not look directly onto our property, I was told it focused purely upon his gate and vehicle and he walked away.

We live in an area that, thankfully hasn't a high crime rate and no history of burglaries or car break ins etc.

Any suggestions? Moving isn't an option!
I love my home, I just don't love feeling constantly watched and my comings and goings illuminated at night and captured 24/7.

In answer to the ring doorbell question , no it does not look onto his house. His house is set back.

I was said hello to him on a morning as we took the children to school and mentioned the camera. It wasn't a big deal.

The reflective film for window's is a good idea; you can still see out clearly but no one can see in. I'd definitely put it on your DDs window. Your bathroom should be fitted with privacy glass so don't see that would be a problem.

For the patio, for a quick fix, would something like this help? It could be fitted to the edge of the wall and it folds up when not in use.

www.vidaxl.co.uk/e/vidaxl-collapsible-terrace-side-awning-cream-240x160-cm/8718475623717.html?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21208018300&gbraid=0AAAAADRCNx0IPaMKae4INZqYrQO-TE4Xx&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjvfSBhDpARIsAEiOpSvI-rIhM3DUQ6kmlNRJvnCsIkxgIcjbphSmBJqrDyfN4jJ0h1OvQG0aAoNyEALw_wcB

If all else fails, get the brightest spotlight you can for the side of your house find and point it directly at their camera. That should spoil their view.

Does he run a business or have a particular car? Might not need to look like a typical fancy car either, you'd be surprised what is sought after.

I'd be getting advice from the police in the first instance due to your DDs bedroom angle. They may be able to do a visit and he can show them what he's seeing and hearing (they wouldn't prewarn so he'd have no time to change them).

As a side, I detest video doorbells. I feel spied on as I have 2 neighbours who have my front door in their 'view' and they don't just record when someone presses the doorbell. Due to the layout of the houses it's impossible for one not to record me everytime I open my front door.

The police need to advise you further, particularly as he's so vague and cagey when you've tried to ask for him to reposition one away from your DDs room.

Thanks for suggesting a screen, we are currently using a parasol when we sit out. Unfortunately, we can't attach anything to the house as the patio is positioned to the rear of the corner of the building.

I need to look into spotlights, even if just for when I go out at night with the dog. It just feels wrong and confrontational to angle a light upwards towards his camera. I just don't need to create any more tension, however I do need to protect our privacy.

A complicated torch and make up mirror set up where it shines a beam of light directly into the camera at all times? (Probably not something that works outside of novels)

I have good neighbours but do have a pergola that gives a huge amount of privacy. I also have a rambling rose planted in a trough at the back of the house . The trough is just over a metre long and the rose is already up to the first floor. You could also look at an awning for the patio. I have additional plug in cameras linked to the ring doorbell. They are designed for indoor use but can be pointed out.

He does run a business and has a van. I have chatted about my understanding the need to ensure his work tools are secure and therefore his use of cameras for this purpose is understandable. I pointed out that the position of the camera does potentially give him a field of vision into our property and could he adjust the camera and tilt it more to his side of the border, as it is centrally placed to see all our driveway as well as the the rear of our house. That's when he walked away muttering he uses privacy screens, and closed his door.

Be careful with privacy films... some make it easier to see in at night when the lights are on.

Are they definitely real cameras? Im wondering if his reluctance to show you is due to them being dummies and him not wanting to admit to it.

I'm smiling thinking of torch and mirror scenario...I have enough trouble getting my dressing gown on and finding the door key in the early hours! I think I'd appear the unhinged one if I attempted to do that 😁 the nice neighbour I'm attached to would think I've lost the plot if she looked out!

Roses are what I'd love to have climbing up. I know you said you have meter wide pots, how deep is the planter you use please? I'm trying to find out the smallest size of planter I could use to get lots of blooms as high up as quickly as possible, with clematis too for speed.

No they are definitely real cameras, he was fiddling with the wires installing them when I arrived home.

We have blinds on the rear windows as it's very sunny in the morning, so could close them at night.

He has no right to be hacked off, as this is exactly what his cameras allow him to do.

So it is pointed towards his house then. Most ring doorbells point down the drive or path towards the street.

onmylastnerveseriously
Thanks for the comment. That's why I'm finding it hard to deal with, as I've BV tried to talk to him calmly about a reasonable concern regarding the cameras he's installed, yet he's hacked off with me!
I've never dealt with such daftness from neighbours. It's making a huge issue out of something that's easy to resolve by chatting. He's made it very clear he doesn't want to engage.

Maybe a strategic football kick to the camera if you have kids who play football...

WilmaRubble
No. Our camera is not pointed at his house. Our house sits further forward than his.it does point down our drive.

Peonies12
The camera in question is below second storey guttering! It would be me that would be the unreasonable one, and paying for damage to his windows or cars etc!

I live in a rural area and the people who keep a shotgun regularly blast road signs they don't like.

I would tell the police I had concerns he was focusing his cameras on a teenage girl.

What a thoughtless, selfish, unneighbourly man (at best)

NotMaysileeDonner
😯

SakuraTea
What a thoughtless, selfish, unneighbourly man (at best)
I'm trying to see it as this, as the family are very self absorbed at times and don't realise impact their actions have upon neighbours, parking on road making access difficult, loud music etc.

You have cameras with security screens.

Why do you think his cameras don't have them?

we’ve got cameras in similar positions to your neighbours and placed them so that we’ve got the entire perimeter of our house covered, but it’s easy to adjust the area they capture and we made sure that they only record activity within our boundary. Im sure my neighbours would be horrified if they thought they were being recorded on our CCTV. I would definitely speak to your local police, OP.

I know you shouldn't have to do this, but is it possible to move your daughter into another room, swap bedrooms with her or something?

I don't doubt he has security screens. I doubt that he uses them fully to screen out our property. The height at which they are installed and the spec of the cameras is potentially incredibly intrusive.

If he is using the screen, why not just show me on his phone like he did last time? The way he suddenly appears when we are moving things out of a car or bin store near to his fence is interesting, given he actively usually avoids us at all times and stares through us if he walks in when we are gardening.

Speaking to the local police for guidance is needed. I just want to live my life without being recorded in my own property.

ulza
I'm happy that the blind and voile combo gives privacy, we can't swap rooms unfortunately.

I have a rose and Boston ivy that is covering half a house growing in a raised bed that is around 40 cm by 1 m and 50 cm tall. If you break up a bit of the paving directly underneath the roots will eventually find their way to soil, although mine are on a raised concrete terrace so they don’t do that.