A man discovered that his neighbor’s outdoor camera was pointed at his property, and netizens were quick to share their thoughts on the matter.
Reddit user wanabepilot shared a photo of a camera allegedly pointing toward his yard, showing the small black device pointing back toward where the poster claims his property is.
The post sparked a conversation among other Reddit users and received 32,000 votes and more than 7,000 comments.
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Etiquette trainer and founder of Clise Etiquette, says Arden Clise Newsweek that the person who shared the photo should have a conversation with their neighbor “before assuming the camera is monitoring your backyard.”
“It’s good to at least get to know our neighbors,” she said. “Very calmly and politely mention that you noticed they installed a new video camera on the side of their house.
“Then be curious: ‘I’m curious why you put it where it is.’ Let the person explain. It may not have anything to do with your backyard.
“If it turns out to be pointing at your backyard, be curious again. ‘Oh, what are you looking at?’ If the intention is really to keep an eye on your backyard, you can ask them to please take it away so that you feel uncomfortable with them looking at your backyard. They may not agree and then you have to decide if it’s worth fighting for let it be taken away.”
Smart security cameras are becoming increasingly popular with homeowners and renters around the world. In 2023, more than 98 million people had smart security cameras in their homes, a number that is expected to grow to more than 180 million by 2027.
Statista’s Global Consumer Survey shows that 38 percent of Americans are concerned about the security of their home. Meanwhile, 25 percent worry about being spied on through such devices.
In the US, there are no laws that directly prohibit someone from pointing a camera at someone else’s backyard. However, the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution outlines the right to an “expectation of privacy.” It is therefore illegal to use a camera to record someone where a high degree of privacy is expected, such as a bedroom or bathroom, but not a garden.
Reddit users quickly joined the conversation sparked by the photo in the comments section of the post.
949CPL shared: “We had a neighbor who had one pointed at our bedroom window. First I put a sign in the window that said “No Free Shows.” Then I bought a very powerful IR spotlight. I put it in our window. The camera was taken down shortly afterwards.”
Another, SuperHooligan, said: “I would put up something that moves a lot so they get a notification every ten seconds.”
“I have a camera on the side of my house, which faces my side gate. It also faces my neighbor’s side gate. You can also see into his garden. I put a privacy filter in so I can’t see anything,” tells 10PieceMcNuggetMeal.
“One time someone broke into his backyard and stole a bunch of garden supplies. So he comes up to me and asks me if I caught anything on camera. At first I thought he was going to get mad at me, but no. actually hoped I had caught the man on camera.
“I felt so bad, man. But then he said he’d be fine with me filming his backyard because he trusts me. I told him I wasn’t comfortable with that, but I’d adjust the privacy filter so he could do that.” see who came in. We both agreed on that.’
Another, GrenexRed, advised that the person who posted the photo should “approach the neighbor and ask to see what the camera image captures before assuming it is an invasion of privacy.”
They wrote: “My side yard is shared with my neighbor’s house and I wanted a camera on my house to monitor the side yard and the back fence. When I installed that, I was worried that they would feel like it was a privacy issue.
“I went to the neighbors to show them the view on my phone app to make sure it wasn’t capturing their house or backyard. The angle can be deceiving until you see it from the actual camera footage. They were very appreciative of my thoughtful effort.”
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