Warning to video doorbell owners over legal trouble if they don't follow these rules
The invention of video camera doorbells has increased security for many homeowners who are now able to check who is at the front door.
They are also great to monitor the delivery of packages to your house and can bring peace of mind while serving as a deterrent and may help prevent break-ins. One in five homes in the UK now have these types of doorbells.
Because the devices which are attached to your front door are CCTV, they also come with a little-known list of rules that owners must adhere to or they could face legal hot water.
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In 2021, a judge ruled that a man's use of a camera doorbell breached data protection laws and caused harassment to his neighbour - who was awarded £100,000 in damages. Dr Mary Fairhurst claimed she had to move out of her home as she was constantly under surveillance by neighbour Jon Woodward.
Mr Woodward had four of the devices fitted around his home and he was found to have breached the Data Protection Act of 2018 and UK GDPR laws.
Max Royston, senior valuer and director at Gaffsy, property buying experts, said that many people are unaware of the strict laws in place when using CCTV in and around your property.
Firstly he said you must ensure your doorbell is GDPR compliant. If your bell films or captures images of people outside of your property boundary, like a neighbour's garden or home, shared spaces or public areas, your CCTV must be GDPR compliant.
If it doesn’t comply, you could be subjected to action by ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) and risk pay outs of up to £100,000 in damages, as well as potential legal action by any affected individuals (those appearing in your CCTV images or videos). If businesses don’t comply, they could be subjected to fines of a whopping £17.5 million .
It's crucial to keep videos stored properly and to make sure the date and time is correct is important, in case you need to submit videos for assessment. You’ll also need to check whether the recorded information is used for the purpose of which your system was installed. You might be tempted to upload clips to Instagram or TikTok, but you could be infringing on privacy rights.
Max also explained it is your responsibility to ensure that the system is installed correctly, for all the information recorded by your system. You must also ensure that the information gathered by CCTV is not used for anything other than protecting your property. As well as this, you must delete videos when its appropriate or when asked.
This means only keeping CCTV footage captured outside your property limits for an appropriate period and deleting it after a few months. You should also delete footage of neighbours if they ask, due to the GDPR rules.
Top tips to ensure your CCTV system is abiding by regulations
Ensure you inform your neighbours about your system
Putting a notice up to inform people recording is taking place
Consider other options before installing a CCTV system - would extra lighting, fencing or gates work?
Consider privacy filters to ensure you’re not filming your neighbour's space unnecessarily
