With doorbell cameras more popular than ever, we look at the risks to owners if they capture footage of neighbours and the properties nearby.
Doorbell cameras can be useful, particularly for homeowners who are out. A notification on the owner’s phone will let them know that someone is outside their home. They can check who is there and see where a parcel has been left. There is also the option to speak to the visitor. But where the footage captures too much of the surrounding environment, problems can arise.
Breach of data protection laws
A case in Oxford left a doorbell camera owner with a large bill when the high court found him to be in breach of the law.
In the case of Fairhurst v Woodard, Dr Fairhurst complained that her neighbour Mr Woodard’s smart doorbell cameras breached her privacy.
Mr Woodard had installed four devices, two of which he claimed were dummies. Dr Fairhurst claimed that Mr Woodard had harassed her and been aggressive when she complained about the surveillance, which captured her movements and was also capable of overhearing conversations.
The judge found that Mr Woodard had tried to actively mislead his neighbour about how the cameras worked and what footage they were capturing. In fact, the cameras had a very wide field of view and one of them was filming Dr Fairhurst driving in and out of the adjacent car park.
The judge also found that one of the cameras that were claimed to be dummies had in fact collected footage, including audio, covering Dr Fairhurst’s gate, garden and parking space.
Mr Woodard claimed that the cameras were necessary for crime prevention, but the judge dismissed this, finding that a lesser solution could be used. She also noted that ‘… the extent of range to which these devices can capture audio is well beyond the range of video that they capture, and in my view cannot be said to be reasonable for crime prevention.’
In finding for Dr Fairhurst, the judge held that Mr Woodard had breached the Data Protection Act 2018 as well as the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Mr Woodard had collected images from outside of his property, but the visual and audio footage captured on the cameras were Dr Fairhurst’s personal data.
How to operate a camera doorbell legitimately
If you have a camera doorbell, you are advised to make sure it is not capturing visual images or audio files from neighbouring properties or of your neighbours coming and going from their homes. Your camera should not capture footage of their garden, their windows or across their property line.
You can also put up signs warning that there are cameras and write to your neighbours advising them that you have cameras in place.
If you receive a complaint, you should take it seriously and adjust or remove the camera. Mr Woodard faced a substantial bill for both compensation to Dr Fairhurst and her legal costs, as well as his own.
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