Ring Video Doorbell privacy

[DrFishnets]

My neighbour has just recently got a Ring Video Doorbell installed on her front door. Only problem is that her video doorbell looks directly at my front door and the camera is activated when I enter my front door to get in or when I am leaving to go out. The thing is I really don’t like being on camera and this is bothering me especially if the video doorbell is recording the footage. I respect my privacy. I understand that she may have this installed for security reasons as drug addicts have been breaking in and stealing parcels left at doors. However, I find this an invasion of privacy if every time I’m going into my flat (apartment) I’m getting filmed.

[SkirtsDad]

My neighbour has just recently got a Ring Video Doorbell installed on her front door. Only problem is that her video doorbell looks directly at my front door and the camera is activated when I enter my front door to get in or when I am leaving to go out. The thing is I really don’t like being on camera and this is bothering me especially if the video doorbell is recording the footage. I respect my privacy. I understand that she may have this installed for security reasons as drug addicts have been breaking in and stealing parcels left at doors. However, I find this an invasion of privacy if every time I’m going into my flat (apartment) I’m getting filmed.

Yes, I believe they should not be doing that I found this info: https://www.kdllaw.com/legal-updates/ca ... t-my-flat

[crfriend]

Yes, I believe they should not be doing that I found this info: https://www.kdllaw.com/legal-updates/ca ... at-my-flat

This will necessarily depend on where Dr. Fishnets lives. The law firm quoted in the UK's reason is not valid, for instance, in the USA where it's been established for at least the last 20 years that "privacy" does not exist. Thus such a complaint of intrusion would not withstand US "law" (or what passes for now).

[DrFishnets]

Yes, I believe they should not be doing that I found this info: https://www.kdllaw.com/legal-updates/ca ... t-my-flat

Thanks for the link. I will contact my landlord who are the city council about this matter and seek some legal aid. I am dammed if I feel my privacy intruded every time I arrive amd leave my flat (apartment).

This will necessarily depend on where Dr. Fishnets lives. The law firm quoted in the UK's reason is not valid, for instance, in the USA where it's been established for at least the last 20 years that "privacy" does not exist. Thus such a complaint of intrusion would not withstand US "law" (or what passes for now).

I live in Scotland and I’ve looked up what Scottish law says about this matter and indeed there is a problem if a neighbour’s video doorbell is directly facing another neighbours door entrance. As I’ve stated above I will contact my landlord about this matter.

[FranTastic444]

Although I can appreciate that there are some nefarious instances of camera placement (watching over someone sunbathing or placing a camera where it can look directly into a bedroom, for example), this sounds like a legitimate use case to me. I have 4 ring cameras, mainly for deterring porch pirates but also because we have had people wandering over our property in years gone by. The wife finds the camera system useful when I’m working away from home and she hears a bump in the night that she wants to investigate from the safety of her bed. A little secret - the resolution on these cameras is pretty crappy, particularly in low light.

In the UK in particular, you are going to get filmed a lot every time you leave your home. Every bus and train you get in will have cameras (maybe taxi / Uber as well). Every store you visit will have cameras, as will shopping malls, bars / restaurants (particularly fast food outlets), city center streets and public buildings. Truth be told, we are in a surveillance society and doorbell cameras will account for only a small fraction of the time you spend being recorded every time you leave the home.

Edited to add - many flats / apartment blocks now have cameras on the entrance or in the vestibule area and cameras in lifts are also common. I noticed just yesterday that both the atm I visited as well as the counter where I self served at the supermarket were also recording me.

[Bill]

When you talked with her to express your concerns, what did she have to say?

[DrFishnets]

When you talked with her to express your concerns, what did she have to say?

I haven’t confronted her yet. I want to confront her but I don’t really want her doorbell camera recording my confrontation with her. My counseller told me to get in touch with my landlord who are the local council about this matter and see what can be done. My counseller also told me it’s a bit concerning her doorbell camera looking straight at my front door.

[Bill]

Heh, I had forgotten my neighbor, directly across the street, installed a similar (Ring Doorbell Camera) on his front door last year. It looks directly toward our house - so he can see who comes and goes to his door and ours, albeit farther away than in your setup. He talked to me about it and even showed me what the camera sees. I told him no problem; he can watch me drive my lawn tractor anytime he likes. It also adds some "security" for our home's front entrance, and I have nothing to hide. A friendly conversation can avoid a lot of problems and potential hard feelings.

[Midas]

If these doorbell cameras are up to the same quality as the Amazon Blink cameras, they will only work properly when they feel like it.

[Mouse]

When you talked with her to express your concerns, what did she have to say?

I haven’t confronted her yet. I want to confront her but I don’t really want her doorbell camera recording my confrontation with her. My counseller told me to get in touch with my landlord who are the local council about this matter and see what can be done. My counseller also told me it’s a bit concerning her doorbell camera looking straight at my front door.

I wonder if the other less confrontational approach, would be to get a similar Ring door bell for your own front door. They are quite useful things. You will then have a better idea of how these things are used and ignored, except for when things go sideways or someone is really at the door.

I think us humans have lost the privacy war in public with the amount of cameras in the world, either on phones or fixed to stuff.

[DrFishnets]

I had word with my neighbour about the video doorbell. I asked her if the video doorbell is taking snapshot photos or recording footage and she told me it doesn’t. It is only used for live viewing. However she told me that she is keeping the camera on the door as she is living in fear due to trouble with drug addicts and apparently there was an attempted murder a few months ago where she had to be a witness in court. Anyway, this has got me worried about my security too as drug addicts were banging on my door this morning leaving me in panic which I don’t need as I suffer from an anxiety disorder and depression.

[DrFishnets]

An update. My neighbour moved house and with it took her Ring doorbell camera. I sighed a breath of relief. A few weeks later new neighbours moved in and everything was fine until the other day I got home to find that my new neighbour has installed a home CCTV camera in the communal area. The CCTV is inside a sort of glass sphere.

I looked at the CCTV camera but it looks like the lens on the camera is pointed straight at the communal security front door. I thought to myself well at least the camera isn’t pointing straight at my door but when I googled the CCTV camera apparently it’s a 360 camera which will have my front door in view and I’ve been really bothered about it.

I am feeling fragile at the moment and don’t want to confront the neighbour about it. My partner suggested me contacting my landlord who is the local council about this matter but I don’t know what to do. What else has freaked me out is that the CCTV camera has the ability to record video footage and save on a photos app. This is a threat to my privacy. I can understand the neighbour installing a CCTV camera for security reasons but I find it an invasion on my privacy if my section of the communal area is in view and recording and it records me coming in and out of my apartment/flat.

[Mouse]

I sometimes fit CCTV cameras as part of my work. What you describe sounds like a normal dome camera if you can see the lens through the dome glass. The normal versions of these are fixed in what they look at, however the more expensive versions allow the camera to move inside the glass.

360 cameras normally have two lenses and then cleaver electronics that stick the two views together to give the 360 total view.

[Faldaguy]

An update. My neighbour moved house and with it took her Ring doorbell camera. I sighed a breath of relief. A few weeks later new neighbours moved in and everything was fine until the other day I got home to find that my new neighbour has installed a home CCTV camera in the communal area. The CCTV is inside a sort of glass sphere.

I looked at the CCTV camera but it looks like the lens on the camera is pointed straight at the communal security front door. I thought to myself well at least the camera isn’t pointing straight at my door but when I googled the CCTV camera apparently it’s a 360 camera which will have my front door in view and I’ve been really bothered about it.

I am feeling fragile at the moment and don’t want to confront the neighbour about it. My partner suggested me contacting my landlord who is the local council about this matter but I don’t know what to do. What else has freaked me out is that the CCTV camera has the ability to record video footage and save on a photos app. This is a threat to my privacy. I can understand the neighbour installing a CCTV camera for security reasons but I find it an invasion on my privacy if my section of the communal area is in view and recording and it records me coming in and out of my apartment/flat.

Arty; perhaps accepting that a "communal area" is a public venue and not a private one might help a dash; but more to the point might be to talk with your new neighbor. Almost everyone putting in such equipment is only concerned about their own safety and crime. On rare occasions the content is useful in exposing such things -- and it is highly unlikely the neighbor or anybody else has the time or inclination to review the data, and certainly not keen on publishing it. Maybe a friendly welcome to the neighborhood would put you more at ease with your fears?
You have been getting out in public in some pretty dramatic outfits, and doing fine. A picture among millions weighs nothing compared to the picture in the minds of those we do meet skirted!

[DrFishnets]

You have been getting out in public in some pretty dramatic outfits, and doing fine. A picture among millions weighs nothing compared to the picture in the minds of those we do meet skirted!

I don’t understand what you mean with the above quote Faldaguy.

As an update I got home today to find the landing light in the communal area has been smashed and the neighbour’s CCTV camera is gone. Maybe someone else in the neighbourhood complained to the council and it got removed or the vandals who smashed the landing light in the communal area took off with the neighbour’s CCTV camera.