Re: CCTV

[Matt Ion <soundy106@xxxxxxxxx>]

Paul Ekins wrote:
>>>"stuart" <member@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>>news:1169378937.976598.287900@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>
>>>
>>>>Hi all,
>>>>I have a barn which I let in the summer for holiday lets, I want to
>>>>mount a security camera on it to monitor who drives down our drive (200
>>>>yard driveway).  What I don't want is to give the barn the appearnace
>>>>of Colditz, so I was thinking of mounting a home made bird box type
>>>>thing onto the barn, to disguise tha fact that its a security camera.
>>>>My problem is I am starting to think that this may be a little
>>>>'unethical'?
>
>
> There is no problem with a covert installation and as long and as you
> prevent the camera capturing images of a public area there is not a legal
> requirement for a sign, however, if you plan to use the captured images for
> evidence or you plan to monitor audio, a small warning sign mounted at the
> entrance gate would suffice to prevent any future privacy problems.

Yeah, depending on where you are (local laws) and the particular situation, it's
probably not so much a legal requirement as it is simply a "covering all your
bases" situation.  If it comes to evidentiary use, there may be an argument that
the evidence isn't admissable if the person didn't know they were on camera/audio.

As far as I know, here in BC (Canada), there's no "privacy" requirement for
notice to be given for video or audio.  Audio will likely be dismissed as
evidence if there was no notice given, but I'm not aware of any such need with
video. "Area under video surveillance" signs are used more as a deterrent than
anything else.  Of course, cameras are illegal in places like washrooms, where
privacy is expected, and any evidence from such cameras would definitely be
dismissed.

All the cameras I've installed are on private property, but there's never been
an issue with them having public areas in view - in fact, police will often go
to surrounding businesses for copies of their video when an incident occurs on
an adjacent street or sidewalk.