Recently, we received a report from the citizen hotline that the surveillance camera installed in the neighbor's house was facing the direction of his garage, which violated his privacy. We went to the scene to understand the situation. We also asked relevant personnel about the use of surveillance by individuals.
Where is the surveillance camera of the neighbor's house facing?
Mr. Yu lives in Shuimu Tsinghua Community in the west of Hangzhou. He lives on the 3rd floor and Mr. Zheng lives on the 2nd floor (there is an overhead floor for the garage). Recently, Mr. Yu's house was being renovated, and he accidentally discovered that there was a surveillance camera on Mr. Zheng's balcony. "It's facing my garage, and I'm being filmed every time I go in and out. I feel like I have no privacy at all."
In Shuimu Tsinghua Community, we found that there was indeed a white surveillance camera on Mr. Zheng's balcony, but it was a little distance away from Mr. Yu's garage. "It was facing diagonally and just took a picture of the garage door." Mr. Yu said.
Mr. Zheng said that the surveillance camera was installed on the balcony to ensure his own safety. He demonstrated the shooting range of the balcony surveillance camera to us. This is a surveillance camera that can change angles. The content of the four angles is mostly Mr. Zheng's own balcony. None of them can directly capture the garage door, nor can they capture the windows and doors of other owners.
However, Mr. Yu still couldn't accept it and insisted that his privacy was violated.
Spend a thousand yuan to set up a surveillance network
Manager Zhang, the person in charge of the property management of Shuimu Tsinghua Community, also admitted that due to various factors, there are not many public surveillance cameras in the community, let alone full coverage. Therefore, some owners install surveillance cameras at home for their own safety considerations, and the property management has no right to interfere.
In fact, many communities have residents installing surveillance cameras. In a market in the north of Hangzhou, surveillance cameras are put on the table and sold openly. A surveillance network can be set up for only about 1,000 yuan. A seller said: "A set of monitoring equipment is standardly configured with a host, infrared and a probe. Probes, door magnets, window magnets, etc. can also be added according to the size of the room and personal needs. Many people will install it in their living rooms, and some will also install it in the bedrooms of the elderly."
Recently, a network monitoring camera has become very popular. As long as the network cable and power are plugged in and an APP is downloaded on the mobile phone, the owner can view the monitoring screen anytime and anywhere on the mobile phone. This kind of camera is easy to install and has almost no technical threshold for use, which is very popular among young people.
There is no restriction on personal installation of monitoring, but the use of infringement is responsible
It can be said that the special "eye" of the camera has long been lurking around us: shopping malls, banks, schools, streets... But for the monitoring devices in these places, citizens have already recognized them, but outside the public system, there are still many privately installed monitoring probes.
What makes Mr. Yu wonder is, can anyone install monitoring?
It is learned from the public security department that the sale and circulation of monitoring equipment and cameras are currently free, and there are no relevant restrictions in the law. The collection, storage and use of private monitoring videos and images are all individual behaviors, and are not included in the corresponding licensing and filing procedures of the public security. In other words, private individuals can install and use surveillance cameras.
However, the police also emphasized that there is no restriction on installation, but if problems arise in use, individuals must bear corresponding responsibilities.
As for Mr. Yu's case, Zhao Gongming, a lawyer at Zhejiang Haihao Law Firm, believes that it cannot be considered as an invasion of privacy. "First, Mr. Yu's garage door was not photographed, and second, the garage door is not a privacy area in the strict sense, so there is no privacy right in itself, and there is no problem of infringement."
Lawyer Zhao Gongming believes that if Mr. Zheng's surveillance scope is personal space, the purpose is to protect personal property, rather than to capture the privacy of others and infringe on the rights of others, it is allowed. Otherwise, citizens have the right to ask the installer to remove the camera, and if the other party refuses to remove it, they can go to court to sue.
In addition, Mr. Zheng's surveillance camera has an angle facing a public green space, and Mr. Yu is worried that he will be photographed every day when he passes by this place. Lawyer Zhao believes that in this case, the video can only be retained as an image, and cannot be disseminated or used for other purposes without the consent of the parties.
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