Cctv And Audio

[mrsfedup]

Hi all,

i have a neighbour who had CCtv installed we feel to intimdate us , to cut a long story short we were reliably informed that the first cctv theyhad installed had no audio facility, but recently the camera has changed and we have discovered that it does have audio as we researched it, and you can get them from Argos and it says it is audio capablity.

We know about the Data Protection Act and Harrassment Act, what can we do about this, as we feel totally intimadated by it before and more so now, as we feel that we can not go into our garden or talk in our own home for fear of being listened too , (the houses are quite near to each other )?

Many thanks ,any advice would be appreciated

Mrs fedup

ps, also the previous camera had a blue light on all the time, and the new one does not , can the blue light be turned on and off, (we did notice the new ones blue light on once )

also is there anything the police can do on this matter , as we cannot afford a solicitor

[Guest]

Hi, nice to drop by.

Is the camera mounted outside their property or inside?

Does it look directly into your property or grounds and not actually look into theirs?

The 2nd factor could warrant police action if that is the case (not knowing scots law don't hold me to it).

Do you know if images are being recorded or if they are dummy cameras, as I have come across this before during neighbour disputes and this could be why you see a blue light. Most decent stuff does not come fitted with LEDs.

If you could answer the above i`m sure we could be of more assistance.

[mrsfedup]

Hi thanks for the welcome ,we didnt think anyone would be up, but we are totally intimidated by this camera and we have been trying to find out about it.

1) the camera is mounted on the outisde of their property ,

i2) It looks across approximatley her small patio and then directly into our garden , the police already have been and they told her to point the camera down, and the ASBO officer also did the same, but we cant prove that it is pointing in our garden all the time The angle looks fixed and we cant tell precisely how far in it can see

We know that this is a basic camera , the first one we saw had a permanent blue led light on but just recently the camera seems to have changed into a slightly different one ,in that the recent one doesnt have the blue light on all the time , we have only seen it on a couple of times briefly.we believe that it is one of those ones that plugs directly into your tv/VCr via a scart lead

I hope that this can help you to help us further

thank you )

[mrsfedup]

: ps sorry about the emoticon, i wanted a smiley ,

[Guest]

Well it does sound like a "Argos" special, if the police have told her as has the ASBO officer then they are in fact breeching some law that is applicable in Scotland. We have similar here about "peeking" over walls.

Perhaps a formal complaint and a request that an officer has a look at the field of view.

Otherwise i would suggest a CAB if you have them to confirm the legal status (Citizens Advise Bureau)

Just had a quick look at some of the Argos ones and indeed the audio can be picked up from that distance.

I would advise another visit to the local police station and if possible show then the "spec" of this camera from a catalogue.

Hope this helped a little bit, we have Scottish members here who no doubt see this tomorrow and may have more relevant information than myself regarding your slightly differing laws.

If they are using it to specifically record you, they will need very specific permissions from the police to which i don`t think they have from your comments.

Once again hope this helps.

[Guest]

Hi Mrs Fedup

I reckon you got an extremely good case. Regardless what country you live in, nobody has the right to point a camera into your property, especially a private area where you could relax. As for audio that is beyond a joke, why are your neighbours taking this action?

What I would do, and it's probably not legal, is shine a very bright torch at it, this will glare the picture so it is useless and it won't see a thing, you could get a torch with a narrow beam which will only light the camera. Then I would play Mozart very loud while having any sort of discsussion in the garden. I think your neigbour will get the message. Either that or you will be done for light or noice pollution

Don't worry about the audio picking you up inside your house, it won't. Can't say the sad old girl won't have a glass to your wall though

As Old Hand said, our Scottish members will be around later and will know the law of the land. Until that time you could put a post on alt.uk.legal newsgroup?

Dave

[Guest]

What I would do, and it's probably not legal, is shine a very bright torch at it, this will glare the picture so it is useless and it won't see a thing, you could get a torch with a narrow beam which will only light the camera. Then I would play Mozart very loud while having any sort of discsussion in the garden. I think your neigbour will get the message. Either that or you will be done for light or noice pollution whistle.gif

This did occur to myself, but as you state it then turns the situation around and is not advisable. As stated it will not pick up inside the house but defiantly in the garden, sorry if i wasn't too clear on that.

[Guest]

have you got any idea why they are recording audio?? on their property have they been burgled b4 and want toi catch any trespassers after now? have you talked to your neighbours sensibly about yopur concerns i did with ours and they are fine as tyhey know we are not watching them only our properfty.

cjt

TSI has got a spell checker now Colin

Dave

[ilkie]

As far as I'm aware (and I do not know if there are any particular laws in Scotland on the issue) that there are three Acts that are relevant to the use of CCTV.

These are RIPA, Data Protection Act and Human Rights Act.

RIPA is about agencies use of such systems for directed surveillance and does not apply in this instance.

Data Protection specifically excludes residential use of CCTV so this is no help.

Human Rights talks about expectation of privacy which in a back garden you should have.

So Human Rights may be one avenue to consider.

There is also the general rule regarding nuisance which has been used in the past with the help of the Environmental Health people at the local authority (same rules re obtrusive lighting)

So advice about the consulting CAB is good and also try to push the Local Authority to take a more active interest.

Hope this helps

Ilkie

[arfur mo]

hi all,

as this is a private residence which has th offending camera, then there is less legal control over of what is viewed or recorded, CAB and human right's legislation might work but will take a lhell of a lot ot of time, so i wonder if placing fast growing trees as a screen might be both cheaper an quicker. raisng walls has issues with planning, tree's have issues with foundations so tread very carefully.

if this is not a direct neighbour on neighbour dispute, then please talk to the camera owner in a civil and respectful manner as they do have concerns, as you already have had the Police and ASBO people involved that avenue may be closed, so if it seems like litigation is the only recourse concider carefully as it is often very costly to be proved right.

regs

alan