Residential security cameras and audio: creepy or acceptable?

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Metamorphic

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#319604 13-May-2025 09:47

Can I ask a favour? Can you please share your frank thoughts about the use of a security camera record to audio in a shared residential space?

Imagine you live in a residential development in which the front of your home and those of a dozen of your neighbours looks out onto shared car parking and a garden. This shared area is the only way in and out of your home. Some of your neighbours install security cameras looking out into the area, and use them to record audio in addition to video. As soon as you leave your own home, or stand in front of it, a neighbour's camera is recording your every conversation, no matter the time of day.

Do you think this is creepy, or falls within acceptable use?

Personally, I find it invasive. Video in a shared public space I'm fine with. Audio I'm not. Recording conversations that would otherwise would be private is creepy.

However, I'm writing here because I'm interested in what others think. Also I'm curious if others have had to take any action either in favour of or against audio recording in similar situations.

Thanks in advance.

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#3372659 13-May-2025 09:56

"shared car parking and a garden"

First up,

Who is responsible for repairs and maintenance of the this "common" area? Is it a body corporate arrangement?, or is it a form of cross lease with easements??, or is is public (council) land

Are you a property owner or a renter in the property?...

It is certainly OK record video and Audio in "proper" public spaces, so you need to find out what the legal status of this land is..

Metamorphic

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#3372661 13-May-2025 09:59

wellygary:

"shared car parking and a garden"

First up,

Who is responsible for repairs and maintenance of the this "common" area? Is it a body corporate arrangement?, or is it a form of cross lease with easements??, or is is public (council) land

Are you a property owner or a renter in the property?...

It is certainly OK record video and Audio in "proper" public spaces, so you need to find out what the legal status of this land is..

The shared area is owned by the residents' society (similar to but not the same as a body corporate). Individual car parks are owned by individual units. The area immediately in front of one's own home is privately owned.

wellygary

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#3372670 13-May-2025 10:17

Then I would go an ask the "resident's society" what their view is....

It looks like they have binding powers over the property owners, so I would go and bend their ear....

https://www.crockers.co.nz/body-corporate/body-corporate-news/what-is-a-residents-society

freitasm

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#3372683 13-May-2025 10:31

There are no specific rules for consumer cameras use at home. If you feel it invades your privacy you could talk to your neighbour, and ask to have it pointed somewhere else or limit the alert monitoring areas (some cameras allow you to select which areas to monitor for motion detection so if your door is not being monitored it wouldn't start a recording).

On the other hand, if it's in a common area, you might feel lucky if your home is broken into and there's a recording of the culprit...

alasta

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#3372695 13-May-2025 10:38

I am on the residents' association committee of a complex that sounds similar to yours. We have published some CCTV guidelines for residents including not recording audio, not storing footage for more than 30 days, and talking to neighbours before installing cameras. These are not enforceable rules as they don't form part of our society bylaws, but in practice we haven't had any problems with private CCTV equipment causing offence.

reven

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#3372697 13-May-2025 10:41

Personally I am completely fine with this.

I have security cameras around my home, all record audio, its detached some different situation. But I only need tog view the footage for certain events, hardly ever, so unlikely someone will hear your conversation or care about it.

I got these because my car was broken into 2 times, attempted another time.

reven

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#3372712 13-May-2025 10:43

Plus video door bells which are more subtle, do all this anyway.

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#3372742 13-May-2025 11:48

reven:

Personally I am completely fine with this.

This

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Handsomedan

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#3372748 13-May-2025 12:23

Much like @reven I have a security camera set up due to having a car stolen off our driveway.

We've since had attempted car thefts and intrusions, but in every case since the original theft we have footage.

Our camera captures audio and video and faces the street - it is set up with a secondary zone that captures the cars parked at the roadside outside our house, which means we get people walking and talking on the footpath outside.
It also picks up footage of both houses across the road, but doesn't activate with them moving in their own property, or across the other side of the road.

It would be very rare that I watch any of that footage, even rarer that I care what anyone is talking about. It's there for security and that's it.

Would I be bothered if someone had a camera pointing at a common area if I lived in a complex like described? Nope.
Would I be bothered if that video captured audio as well? Nope.

The only caveat would be if I had neighbours that were absolute douchenozzles and they were the ones with the cameras.

I'm more of the persuasion that I would feel more secure knowing that the common areas have some security and that if there were any intruders, there might be both video and audio of them.

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richms

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#3372766 13-May-2025 13:13

I would be fine with this in public shared areas. In fact I would expect that a body corp should be providing this in them rather than being reliant on homeowners to put them in.

Richard rich.ms

mdooher

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#3372780 13-May-2025 14:17

It is an offence to record any conversation where none of the participants knows about the recording. So no you can't do that.

You (if you are part of the conversation) or one of the participants must be aware it is being recorded

Matthew

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#3372781 13-May-2025 14:22

Our neighbor at the end of the shared driveway (we are one house closer to the street), installed a really great hi-res camera that also picks up audio up most of the driveway (towards the street).

He came and told us he had done it and showed use what it picked up etc and said if we ever needed anything checked up on (strange people etc), he was happy to help.

I regard that as a free bonus for us. I can't imagine him being so bored as to try and snoop on any driveway conversations - but he would be underwhelmed by the conversations if he did.

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#3372787 13-May-2025 14:31

mdooher:

It is an offence to record any conversation where none of the participants knows about the recording. So no you can't do that.

You or one of the participants must be aware it is being recorded

This is correct.

Crimes Act 1961 No 43 (as at 05 April 2025), Public Act – New Zealand Legislation

If one participants knows about the recording, then it's legal. If your neighbour is not there with you, in the conversation, then they are not a participant.

That's why I like the Ring camera feature where as soon as someone walks down my driveway, a notification comes out "You are now being recorded". In that situation, even if I am not there, the person can't claim the recording was done without them knowing it. If they don't want to be recorded, they are welcome to leave the property without saying a word.