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Firstly I should say I am writing on behalf of someone who’s written English is not great but would dearly like to get some advice to solve this problem.
Her neighbour has recently installed a security camera outside her door (common area) after onging DV issues that resulted in the neighbour being a protected person on a current ADVO. The issue is that whilst she is understanding and agreeable to her neighbour wanting added security she does not want all her movements to be filmed. She said she complained to the executive committee and the strata manager and was told it had been approved and she need to be more supportive of her neighbour. This response I find hard to believe.
A great outcome would be that the neighbour is able to retain the camera and feel more safe and my friend has her privacy respected. I think the placement and angle of the camera would be obvious place to start on a solution. My question is regrading the response by the EC and Strata manager. Can someone place a camera on common property, filming anyone who passes, without the consent of those directly affected?
I managed to find a forum topic from 2013 that related to a webcam filming outwards from a unit but could not find anything like this. My understanding is that privacy laws prohibit the filming of people without their consent if the filming is ‘reasonably’ believed to be invasive.
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@James79 said:
My understanding is that privacy laws prohibit the filming of people without their consent if the filming is ‘reasonably’ believed to be invasive.
Privacy laws, such as they are, are very loose but they basically mean that anyone can film anything from public areas, including the interiors of people’s homes, provided they are not filming people engaged in activities that would reasonably be expected to be conducted in private. E.g. If I am on public property, I can film you cooking dinner but I can’t film you having a bath.
The question arises, is common property a public area, and the answer, clearly, is no. So anyone filming from common property requires the Owners Corp’s permission to do so but anyone filming from their own property into common property or someone else’s lot doesn’t.
Is the camera on common property? If so, the committee should set parameters that protect other residents’ privacy while allowing this resident to protect herself. This may require a by-law.
The simplest solution to this would be to ask the threatened neighbor to show what is visible on the camera and then adjust it so that they are not filming inside the non-threatened neighbour’s home.
This is something that can and should be resolved by discussion and compromise. It might help if your committee chair or strata manager agreed to act as a mediator in this matter.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
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