Location: California. I live in a duplex and my neighbor just put up a security camera system last month. One of the cameras is pointed directly at my bedroom window and you can clearly see inside when the lights are on.
I talked to him about it and he says the camera is for his property security and that I should just keep my blinds closed if I don’t want to be filmed. But the thing is my bedroom gets really hot without the window open and I’ve lived here for 3 years without having to worry about someone recording me.
I checked with my landlord and she said it’s not her problem since we’re separate units. The neighbor claims the camera is technically on his side of the property line so he can point it wherever he wants.
I’ve been having to keep my blinds shut all the time now which sucks because I was trying to save money on my electric bill by using natural light instead of running the AC constantly. My bedroom feels like a cave and my utility costs have gone up.
Is there any law against filming into someone’s private space like this? Do I have any options besides just dealing with it? I looked into getting my own privacy fence but that’s way out of my budget right now.
This whole situation is making me really uncomfortable in my own home. Any advice would be appreciated.
Comments
>the camera is technically on his side of the property line so he can point it wherever he wants.
This is mostly true. Is there anything he has a legitimate interest in monitoring in the frame of his camera? Is it looking at the side of his property and your bedroom? Or is it exclusively positioned to look into your bedroom?
A bight light pointed at the camera will basically blind it. “Oh, that’s on my side of the property line, so I can point it wherever I want” works for both sides. Shade it so the light doesn’t point into any of his windows (that might be considered a nuisance).
There are laws you could look into, but if your neighbor can prove that the angle of his camera is monitoring his property in a proper way, and your window just happens to be in the frame, then you won’t have much luck legally.
I would suggest you post this in a different subreddit and ask for practical advice on how to counter this, without using lasers or lights to blind his camera.
One such practical advice: Is the camera above, so it’s looking down into your window from about the roofline? If so, could you fashion a window-awning or something that would block the camera’s view into your window without blocking it’s monitoring otherwise?
Another practical possibility: One-sided window film on the affected window?