GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - These days no matter where you go, or what you do, there might be an eye in the sky watching you.
But what about your own home?
A local mom raised the concern on a community Facebook page about a neighbor’s camera pointed toward her home, and it received hundreds of comments.
She posted the question: “Can my neighbor video tape my side of the property without my permission?” She said her neighbor's camera pointed at her front porch and living room window.
“We have very clear laws against stalking, surveillance, harassment, especially when it has to do with peering into a neighbor’s private places,” said Nelson Miller, the Associate Dean at Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
Those private places include a bedroom or a bathroom.
“A situation like this often has to do with the motive or intent of the one doing the recording," Miller said. "They may be innocently just surveilling, as a security measure, their own front porch, but happen to catch what's going on in the background.”
Miller said if that's the case, it's likely not an invasion of privacy.
It's a different story if the motive is more malicious.
“To capture, record and maybe even post, social media or otherwise, images from the neighbor’s home, it could be a problem,” Miller said.
We can Verify: Can your neighbor videotape your side of the property without your permission?
“Only if it’s observing public spaces, that would be the clearest answer," Miller said. "And that would include a front porch, perhaps the front of the home, but would not include peeking in, peering in, through windows, especially private windows around bathrooms and bedrooms.”
Miller said there are steps you can take.
First, talk to your neighbor and see if they can make an accommodation.
Second, protect yourself. Close the blinds, put a fence up, or plant a bush or a tree.
You can also contact the police. And finally, consider talking to a lawyer about a cease and desist letter.
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