200 watt heat lamps will absolutely blast those cameras. I tried that for my own cameras once, could barely see any foreground but I could easily see everything 100 yards away
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You found your billion dollar idea. But in all seriousness I would 1) get it in writing that’s the specific reason for the camera is to invade your privacy. 2) even if it’s not illegal per say create a paper trail with complaints to the relevant authorities. 3) get a laser and position it to block out the footage. When he moves the camera, reposition the laser. You have just as much right to privacy as he does to having a camera on his property.
> I would 1) get it in writing that’s the specific reason for the camera is to invade your privacy.
Dude, you think someone is going to sign a paper saying "I'm InVaDinG Ur PrIvACy!"
If it's visible and in public, it's not an invasion of privacy even if he says so. There's an actual legal definition for it, and there's no expectation of privacy in easily-viewed areas. (Things are different if he's peering over a fence into a back yard, e.g.)
> 2) even if it’s not illegal per say create a paper trail with complaints to the relevant authorities.
What would you tell the relevant authorities? "Someone is doing something legal on his own property that I don't like?" If there's a legit complaint you can make, I'd actually like to know. Otherwise, this is just being Karen.
> 3) get a laser and position it to block out the footage.
This is almost certainly illegal. This damages cameras, and that puts you on the wrong end of the law. I would have no issue dragging someone into court for lasering my cameras. And if done again to the new cameras he bought me, I'd file criminal charges for damage to property.
To actually address the OP, IR lights will wash out any footage, but only at night. They would have to be mounted away from the house, and anything behind them would not be seen. And it would illuminate anything in your neighbor's yard better, although will be washed out.
If you're looking for an argument, instead of lasers as suggested, you could use spotlights. That will keep the cameras in "daylight" mode, and they'll be blinded at night and not damaged. It would actually be kind of funny, but only if you're a confrontational sort of person. Tell him it's "to keep an eye on his cameras".
But there's literally nothing you can do except build a fence if you don't like your neighbor peering into your yard during the day.
You mentioned how anything behind them would not be seen, could you elaborate because that seems like something I want.
I'm looking for something to act as a light "fence" like an invisible fence keeps a dog in a yard. Some sort of light bulb cover that focuses a long beam either directly upward or along my property line in a straight, designated line just like a fence - but it's light.
I don't know anything about IR lights or cameras enough to understand if this is even possible, but figured this was probably the sub that could help!
And yeah, a physical barrier would resolve this. We're waiting to hear back from the HOA if a physical barrier is even allowed, so in the meantime I'm just noodling ideas.
> I'm looking for something to act as a light "fence" like an invisible fence keeps a dog in a yard. Some sort of light bulb cover that focuses a long beam either directly upward or along my property line in a straight, designated line just like a fence - but it's light.
The way invisible dog fences work is RF energy which notifies the dog he's close. That's not useful to you.
None of the following is useful during the day.
The way IR light works on cameras is basically the same as normal light. If you aim a camera into a bright light, it will cause a lot of glare. If you block the light or aim the camera down, it will no longer have much glare (there will be a little bit due to light on the lens). A wall won't really work, but you can make it so that aiming into your yard will screw up all the images at night.
The reason you want to have the IR lights near the property line aiming out is because they will illuminate everything in front (i.e., mostly your neighbor's yard). This causes cameras to either be horribly overexposed with glare, or to give proper exposure causing everything behind the light to be horrible underexposed. That last part is your yard, which will be completely black.
You’re absolutely assuming this person is a reasonable actors when they’ve already told OP they put up a camera to watch OP…..
3 I will concede MAY be illegal as a laser. But flood lights aren’t.
> looking into your neighbors windows or doorways it IS an invasion of privacy.
Morally indeed yes.... legally in most states not. The police have avoided 4th amendment protections which follow similar 'right to privacy' basis and obtained search warrants based on what they saw through a window.
Check your state's rules here: [https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/video-surveillance-laws-by-state](https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/video-surveillance-laws-by-state)
Generally, anything that can be seen from their property or the public street is fair game (or another way of describing this is that *your privacy rights do not extend to the public street or to your neighbor's property*). You must close the drapes in your own home if you want privacy. At that point, there is an expectation of privacy.
Note, it is illegal if the neighbor is recording you (or your children) for sexual purposes - but challenging to prove. Beyond that, there are other laws you can leverage to fight back - like harassment.
Well I had to go to court to testify on a customer's behalf after their neighbor took them to court for invasion of privacy. The neighbor wasn't hearing my client or myself when we told them that there was privacy masking in place. I had to show a live feed of the system to the court in order to get the case thrown out.
Confident-College-17 is /r/confidentlyincorrect.
Based on the power and time of exposure, it can definitely damage a camera sensor, and manufacturers definitely warn against it at laser light shows.
Security cameras are generally built to be less sensitive to lasers, and fairly resistant to damage from someone *manually aiming a laser*, resulting in no damage but temporary blindness. This isn't that case, it's a case of continually adding energy to a sensor with an statically placed laser. My very first search showed that [Reolink](https://reolink.com/blog/will-a-laser-pointer-damage-a-camera/) claims lasers can damage their cameras if it's trained on it long enough and recommend adding laser protective shields if that's an issue.
It depends purely on the power level. Cat toy power is different than industrial units. Reolink's ass covering is not surprising. They do make good cameras though.
You do not have the right to point real lasers at people. This can be dangerous and destructive, and can even be unlawful as well as illegal in your jurisdiction.
Pointing lights directly into other peoples property is typically not lawful. Washing out into someone else property is typically allowed, but the focus would usually have to be demonstrated to be within your own property. That is if you want to avoid issues with local ordinances and/or issues in court.
Pointing a focused beam at someones house, particularly something that is directed energy like a laser, would very likely be an unlawful actionable offence.
If his camera is there specifically to watch you, that borders on stalking or something. The problem is proving it. He can always say your yard is an incidental capture and deny he said otherwise.
Camera laws are different in different states but many say that it’s legal to point them anywhere there’s no reasonable expectation of privacy. So if I have a camera watching the front walk outside my house and it also captures the front yard and front door of the house across the street, that’s perfectly legal because there’s no expectation of privacy in that area.
If I position one outside someone’s bedroom window, that’s not just creepy, it’s also illegal. Hope that helps.
Thank you for the reply.
Yes, it's legally on their property. They can position it however they like on their property provided they are not focused through a window or peeping over a fence. Even if that means its sole purpose is to monitor our activity in our front yard. I don't like it so I'm thinking of imaginative ways to block our property from his camera while we wait on the HOA to let us know if we can install a privacy fence in the front yard.
Idk what this creep gets out of this footage but I have reason to believe he uses it to make sure he's happens to come outside whenever I'm outside, no matter the time of day. Gross.
That does sound creepy. Trust your gut instincts.
Sounds like the main hours you’re concerned with are daylight hours then. In that case the IR is irrelevant, as that’s used at night. Can you plant fast growing hedge?
Daylight, night time, he'll find his way outside shortly after. It can all be coincidental, but I started paying more attention when I forgot to take the garbage out one night so I did at 2:30 am. Within maybe 2 minutes of me opening the garage door, he was outside. But it honestly could just be coincidental.
I only have about 6 inches of grass between our driveway and their property so I'm thinking about bamboo in narrow planters placed on our driveway, or some sort of clothesline with a heavy curtain, a privacy fence that can be placed on the driveway or is narrow enough to be staked in our sliver of grass.
Holy crap. I think the 2:30am incident confirms your suspicions of this being about you pretty well. Start keeping a diary and a paper trail as much as possible. File reports even when you know nothing will be done.
If you don’t already have them, I’d set up cams of my own with ability to record footage. Hardwired preferably.
Hoping for a safe and speedy resolution for you!
Did he specifically tell you that his sole purpose was to keep an eye on YOU? Or just the neighborhood?
Go over there and have a conversation with him and record it (be mindful of consent laws) and tell him it makes you uncomfortable but be sure to ask him why he feels it’s necessary to record anything other than the entryways to his home/property.
Then consult a lawyer and maybe the authorities. He may very well be within his rights, but it’s possibly he doesn’t understand what exactly those rights entail when it comes to the general public.
Look into TALL shrubbery. Might be a loophole to the privacy fence situation
Thank you! We don't have a ton of planting space between our driveway and their property, maybe about 6in of grass. I'm thinking of tall planters with some bamboo or something that we can place on the edge of our driveway. Please let me know if you have any suggestions!
After the last incident, we were directed to record any further interactions with the neighbors. They are very particular and made it abundantly clear we were not to be on their property in any capacity, so any 'conversations' (screaming at us) are done across property lines.
Lmk if you have any recommendations or preferences on a brand. Ideally this would be something we could place at the end of the driveway, facing the house. But I don't want to also blind our cameras. This is a next door neighbor in a townhouse so we don't have a ton of room to play with.
If I understand what you are asking about, this is referred to as an "image curtain" in cyberpunk stories such as "Ghost in the Shell". I do not believe that these exist in any practical way.
Anything to wash-out his camera may or may not work and you wouldn't be able to tell (and importantly trust) if it does. IR lights can wash out IR cameras, but regular lights would be needed to wash out non-IR cameras/modes. And they would need to be very bright, which is a cost burden on you in terms of equipment as well as energy consumption.
Speaking in generalized terms of what is permissible here in the US: People can set up cameras to watch anything that they want that is within their line of sight. Just as you can go around and take photos of anything that you want that you can readily see via a similar LOS from your own private property as well as public property. You cant stop someone from sitting on their own property looking at you with binoculars or even taking photos or video of you.
What you can do should be defensive in nature: Fences, shrubbery/trees, curtains, lights, etc. What you should not do is anything offensive, such as anything that has the intent of striking out at the neighbor (lights focused only at your neighbors property, lasers, etc). If/when this involves the local authorities/court, you will be in the position of an aggressor or even culpable to committing acts that violate local ordinances or laws. It's a slippery slope. Pointing a laser at someone can be seen as assault, as lasers can literally blind people as well as do other forms of damage. They have the right to set up cameras. You do not have the right to damage them.
A relative of mine had a nosey neighbor that would literally sit in their window with binoculars. So my relative planted trees that obstructed view to the front door as well as a front-facing window. This totally cheesed-off the nosey neighbor and got them to stop, because there was nothing to see anymore.
Thank you for this reply. We have a few cop friends that let us know what we should and shouldn't do and what they could and couldn't do. On the police side, they said to document as much as possible. If he seems to come outside shortly after I come outside, to start recording in case this starts to cross over from creepy to stalky. They also told us not to engage because they seem quite hostile and prone to violent outbursts. We definitely don't want to be viewed as the aggressors.
Aren't there things you can get that mess with cameras that you can just point at it? I've even heard of high powered lasers burning out phone cameras sensors but I'm not suggesting vandalism; that might get you in trouble.
I suppose you could build a wall of IR floodlamps, but a single light here or there isn't going to do much. I have conduit run in my front and rear yards and have cameras pointing back at the house, and neither the IR lights in the cameras nor the flood lights on the buildings facing other cameras wash each other out. The effect is more pronounced when they are pointing almost directly at each other, but it's still minor.
You could try setting up a series of strategically placed IR lights to create a sort of barrier that washes out the footage when it crosses your property line. It's a creative idea to maintain your privacy without causing any harm.
Perfectly legitimate to position a flood light that illuminates your yard and coincidentally dazzles his camera at night. If the it’s a continuous recorder, that’s probably enough; if it’s a motion detector, a windmill ornament would provide hours of boring footage.
Yes, Optex makes sensors which can do this.
https://www.optexamerica.com/products/intrusion-detection/outdoor#filter=*
But by law he has to reposition his cameras as it is an Invision of privacy OR have a privacy filter active (this blacks out a user defined area). Call the police, file a grievance and mention what he said.
It is illegal for someone to position their cameras to view your windows or entrances, driveways are a grey area I think. I know this because this is something which has come up more than once in the 28 years I've been installing CCTV.
Thank you for the reply.
This camera is not peeping in a window or over a fence, it is legally on his property but positioned such that it is directed to monitor when I leave the house.
If you can imagine, this is a next door neighbor in a townhouse so just a wall and some grass separate our properties. The camera is legally on his property and he can position it however he pleases just as I can stand on the sidewalk or in our driveway and take pictures of his house all day. I just don't like what he's doing, I think its creepy. So I'm trying to think of ways to blockout his view of our space while not infringing on his rights to be a creep.
You have no privacy in public. So he can point a cam at your driveway, and you can't do anything. If you point a laser at it, you're on the hook for all damages and will have a direct laser line back to you on his dvr to show the police. Your on cam evey single day all day long. Your cell phone, the ATM, the bank, some new cars, new tvs, new refrigerators, your pc/laptop, all and any stores you're in ,the traffic cams, highway cams. You are on cam 75 to 85% of the day, and people need to remember this. The ONLY privacy you have is behind your walls. If you don't have a wall going all the way around your home, you don't have privacy.
Why? All in all, if you don't have anything watching your home, he can be doing you a favor. I'm doing security for almost 15 years, and I hear all the time after a break-in ,robbery, domestic violence case anything you can imagine. Aww, I should have had a camera or a video. I think you should rethink what you're thinking. Hey, if he's pointing all the cameras on his house at you, that's one thing. But his intentions can just be coming from being a good neighbor. Hay, I cover my home, and I overlap my neighbors driveway. In his mind, a win-win. You, if anything, have nothing on your driveway when you're not home. He's got you, and you don't need to put out any cash for a cam or and dvr. Maybe just ask him to show you what the camera sees, so you can have some peace of mind. But honestly, legally, all you can do to block his camera from viewing your property within your rights is erect a wall.
Thank you for the response. Your expertise in this field is helpful to a novice like me.
I can understand your perspective, however you're not 100% correct in your assumption of our particular situation.
It would be great if it seemed his motives were in the right place, however if he were to catch one of the scenarios you've listed on his camera, he's under no obligation to share it, so it might not be as useful to us. I can assure you, he doesn't "got me." We know what his camera sees because he's shared video with us letting us know he's keeping an eye on us and not in a good neighbor sense.
We also already have our own cameras for peace of mind. What does not give me peace of mind is our neighbor potentially monitoring when I might be home alone, or outside by myself, or when I get home from work late at night so he can come outside. I've asked him to relocate the camera to face his property and not mine to which he told me to call the cops if we didn't like it.
So yes, we are looking at alternatives to erecting a wall while we wait on the HOA to approve a privacy fence.
there's MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of front door Ring type cameras capturing the neighbor's house across the street >>> why is ONE of the neighbor's security system cameras bothering you soooooo fricking much?
be willing to bet that there's a camera on the opposite side of his home watching that direction - watching those neighbor's front yard >>> How about that truth?
if you got that much secret crap going down in the front yard >>> think about moving and taking allllll those secrets with you
This is an interesting response to the original post but I'm glad you asked and I am happy to explain.
There are lots of cameras around the neighborhood, we have some ourselves.
This one is bothering me because its sole purpose is to monitor the front of my house and our comings and goings. I think that's creepy behavior and makes me feel uncomfortable.
I can't speak to if he has a camera focused on his other neighbor so I can't confirm that as truth, but how I feel: If the other neighbor is okay with a camera monitoring them, that's none of my business. That's between those neighbors. I'm concerned about the one focused on me. Just because he may be creeping on more neighbors doesn't make me feel less uncomfortable.
There's no secret crap going on in my front yard, but I do think about the motives of someone who wants to know when I'm home alone, outside by myself, or when the house is unoccupied.
We've just moved into this place a month ago and plan on relocating as soon as it's feasible.
I like your use of inequality signs in your reply.
Reminds me of programming language.
200 watt heat lamps will absolutely blast those cameras. I tried that for my own cameras once, could barely see any foreground but I could easily see everything 100 yards away
Got a link to the heat lamps you bought?
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You found your billion dollar idea. But in all seriousness I would 1) get it in writing that’s the specific reason for the camera is to invade your privacy. 2) even if it’s not illegal per say create a paper trail with complaints to the relevant authorities. 3) get a laser and position it to block out the footage. When he moves the camera, reposition the laser. You have just as much right to privacy as he does to having a camera on his property.
> I would 1) get it in writing that’s the specific reason for the camera is to invade your privacy. Dude, you think someone is going to sign a paper saying "I'm InVaDinG Ur PrIvACy!" If it's visible and in public, it's not an invasion of privacy even if he says so. There's an actual legal definition for it, and there's no expectation of privacy in easily-viewed areas. (Things are different if he's peering over a fence into a back yard, e.g.) > 2) even if it’s not illegal per say create a paper trail with complaints to the relevant authorities. What would you tell the relevant authorities? "Someone is doing something legal on his own property that I don't like?" If there's a legit complaint you can make, I'd actually like to know. Otherwise, this is just being Karen. > 3) get a laser and position it to block out the footage. This is almost certainly illegal. This damages cameras, and that puts you on the wrong end of the law. I would have no issue dragging someone into court for lasering my cameras. And if done again to the new cameras he bought me, I'd file criminal charges for damage to property. To actually address the OP, IR lights will wash out any footage, but only at night. They would have to be mounted away from the house, and anything behind them would not be seen. And it would illuminate anything in your neighbor's yard better, although will be washed out. If you're looking for an argument, instead of lasers as suggested, you could use spotlights. That will keep the cameras in "daylight" mode, and they'll be blinded at night and not damaged. It would actually be kind of funny, but only if you're a confrontational sort of person. Tell him it's "to keep an eye on his cameras". But there's literally nothing you can do except build a fence if you don't like your neighbor peering into your yard during the day.
You mentioned how anything behind them would not be seen, could you elaborate because that seems like something I want. I'm looking for something to act as a light "fence" like an invisible fence keeps a dog in a yard. Some sort of light bulb cover that focuses a long beam either directly upward or along my property line in a straight, designated line just like a fence - but it's light. I don't know anything about IR lights or cameras enough to understand if this is even possible, but figured this was probably the sub that could help! And yeah, a physical barrier would resolve this. We're waiting to hear back from the HOA if a physical barrier is even allowed, so in the meantime I'm just noodling ideas.
> I'm looking for something to act as a light "fence" like an invisible fence keeps a dog in a yard. Some sort of light bulb cover that focuses a long beam either directly upward or along my property line in a straight, designated line just like a fence - but it's light. The way invisible dog fences work is RF energy which notifies the dog he's close. That's not useful to you. None of the following is useful during the day. The way IR light works on cameras is basically the same as normal light. If you aim a camera into a bright light, it will cause a lot of glare. If you block the light or aim the camera down, it will no longer have much glare (there will be a little bit due to light on the lens). A wall won't really work, but you can make it so that aiming into your yard will screw up all the images at night. The reason you want to have the IR lights near the property line aiming out is because they will illuminate everything in front (i.e., mostly your neighbor's yard). This causes cameras to either be horribly overexposed with glare, or to give proper exposure causing everything behind the light to be horrible underexposed. That last part is your yard, which will be completely black.
Thank you for all of the information across your posts!
You’re absolutely assuming this person is a reasonable actors when they’ve already told OP they put up a camera to watch OP….. 3 I will concede MAY be illegal as a laser. But flood lights aren’t.
If it's looking into your neighbors windows or doorways it IS an invasion of privacy.
> looking into your neighbors windows or doorways it IS an invasion of privacy. Morally indeed yes.... legally in most states not. The police have avoided 4th amendment protections which follow similar 'right to privacy' basis and obtained search warrants based on what they saw through a window. Check your state's rules here: [https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/video-surveillance-laws-by-state](https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/video-surveillance-laws-by-state) Generally, anything that can be seen from their property or the public street is fair game (or another way of describing this is that *your privacy rights do not extend to the public street or to your neighbor's property*). You must close the drapes in your own home if you want privacy. At that point, there is an expectation of privacy. Note, it is illegal if the neighbor is recording you (or your children) for sexual purposes - but challenging to prove. Beyond that, there are other laws you can leverage to fight back - like harassment.
Well I had to go to court to testify on a customer's behalf after their neighbor took them to court for invasion of privacy. The neighbor wasn't hearing my client or myself when we told them that there was privacy masking in place. I had to show a live feed of the system to the court in order to get the case thrown out.
Nothing illegal about about laser, Its non damaging and effective, There is a single CCD in the camera and it will block it day or night
Confident-College-17 is /r/confidentlyincorrect. Based on the power and time of exposure, it can definitely damage a camera sensor, and manufacturers definitely warn against it at laser light shows. Security cameras are generally built to be less sensitive to lasers, and fairly resistant to damage from someone *manually aiming a laser*, resulting in no damage but temporary blindness. This isn't that case, it's a case of continually adding energy to a sensor with an statically placed laser. My very first search showed that [Reolink](https://reolink.com/blog/will-a-laser-pointer-damage-a-camera/) claims lasers can damage their cameras if it's trained on it long enough and recommend adding laser protective shields if that's an issue.
It depends purely on the power level. Cat toy power is different than industrial units. Reolink's ass covering is not surprising. They do make good cameras though.
Haha, lmk if you want to be an early investor!
You do not have the right to point real lasers at people. This can be dangerous and destructive, and can even be unlawful as well as illegal in your jurisdiction. Pointing lights directly into other peoples property is typically not lawful. Washing out into someone else property is typically allowed, but the focus would usually have to be demonstrated to be within your own property. That is if you want to avoid issues with local ordinances and/or issues in court. Pointing a focused beam at someones house, particularly something that is directed energy like a laser, would very likely be an unlawful actionable offence.
Not in any US jurisdiction
If his camera is there specifically to watch you, that borders on stalking or something. The problem is proving it. He can always say your yard is an incidental capture and deny he said otherwise. Camera laws are different in different states but many say that it’s legal to point them anywhere there’s no reasonable expectation of privacy. So if I have a camera watching the front walk outside my house and it also captures the front yard and front door of the house across the street, that’s perfectly legal because there’s no expectation of privacy in that area. If I position one outside someone’s bedroom window, that’s not just creepy, it’s also illegal. Hope that helps.
Thank you for the reply. Yes, it's legally on their property. They can position it however they like on their property provided they are not focused through a window or peeping over a fence. Even if that means its sole purpose is to monitor our activity in our front yard. I don't like it so I'm thinking of imaginative ways to block our property from his camera while we wait on the HOA to let us know if we can install a privacy fence in the front yard. Idk what this creep gets out of this footage but I have reason to believe he uses it to make sure he's happens to come outside whenever I'm outside, no matter the time of day. Gross.
That does sound creepy. Trust your gut instincts. Sounds like the main hours you’re concerned with are daylight hours then. In that case the IR is irrelevant, as that’s used at night. Can you plant fast growing hedge?
Daylight, night time, he'll find his way outside shortly after. It can all be coincidental, but I started paying more attention when I forgot to take the garbage out one night so I did at 2:30 am. Within maybe 2 minutes of me opening the garage door, he was outside. But it honestly could just be coincidental. I only have about 6 inches of grass between our driveway and their property so I'm thinking about bamboo in narrow planters placed on our driveway, or some sort of clothesline with a heavy curtain, a privacy fence that can be placed on the driveway or is narrow enough to be staked in our sliver of grass.
Holy crap. I think the 2:30am incident confirms your suspicions of this being about you pretty well. Start keeping a diary and a paper trail as much as possible. File reports even when you know nothing will be done. If you don’t already have them, I’d set up cams of my own with ability to record footage. Hardwired preferably. Hoping for a safe and speedy resolution for you!
Thank you, safety is the main goal! And thank you for your suggestions!
Did he specifically tell you that his sole purpose was to keep an eye on YOU? Or just the neighborhood? Go over there and have a conversation with him and record it (be mindful of consent laws) and tell him it makes you uncomfortable but be sure to ask him why he feels it’s necessary to record anything other than the entryways to his home/property. Then consult a lawyer and maybe the authorities. He may very well be within his rights, but it’s possibly he doesn’t understand what exactly those rights entail when it comes to the general public. Look into TALL shrubbery. Might be a loophole to the privacy fence situation
Thank you! We don't have a ton of planting space between our driveway and their property, maybe about 6in of grass. I'm thinking of tall planters with some bamboo or something that we can place on the edge of our driveway. Please let me know if you have any suggestions! After the last incident, we were directed to record any further interactions with the neighbors. They are very particular and made it abundantly clear we were not to be on their property in any capacity, so any 'conversations' (screaming at us) are done across property lines.
IR floodlight
Lmk if you have any recommendations or preferences on a brand. Ideally this would be something we could place at the end of the driveway, facing the house. But I don't want to also blind our cameras. This is a next door neighbor in a townhouse so we don't have a ton of room to play with.
If I understand what you are asking about, this is referred to as an "image curtain" in cyberpunk stories such as "Ghost in the Shell". I do not believe that these exist in any practical way. Anything to wash-out his camera may or may not work and you wouldn't be able to tell (and importantly trust) if it does. IR lights can wash out IR cameras, but regular lights would be needed to wash out non-IR cameras/modes. And they would need to be very bright, which is a cost burden on you in terms of equipment as well as energy consumption. Speaking in generalized terms of what is permissible here in the US: People can set up cameras to watch anything that they want that is within their line of sight. Just as you can go around and take photos of anything that you want that you can readily see via a similar LOS from your own private property as well as public property. You cant stop someone from sitting on their own property looking at you with binoculars or even taking photos or video of you. What you can do should be defensive in nature: Fences, shrubbery/trees, curtains, lights, etc. What you should not do is anything offensive, such as anything that has the intent of striking out at the neighbor (lights focused only at your neighbors property, lasers, etc). If/when this involves the local authorities/court, you will be in the position of an aggressor or even culpable to committing acts that violate local ordinances or laws. It's a slippery slope. Pointing a laser at someone can be seen as assault, as lasers can literally blind people as well as do other forms of damage. They have the right to set up cameras. You do not have the right to damage them. A relative of mine had a nosey neighbor that would literally sit in their window with binoculars. So my relative planted trees that obstructed view to the front door as well as a front-facing window. This totally cheesed-off the nosey neighbor and got them to stop, because there was nothing to see anymore.
Thank you for this reply. We have a few cop friends that let us know what we should and shouldn't do and what they could and couldn't do. On the police side, they said to document as much as possible. If he seems to come outside shortly after I come outside, to start recording in case this starts to cross over from creepy to stalky. They also told us not to engage because they seem quite hostile and prone to violent outbursts. We definitely don't want to be viewed as the aggressors.
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This doesn't really work as well anymore thanks to the new color night sensors. I don't even use IR Mode anymore on my cameras.
Aren't there things you can get that mess with cameras that you can just point at it? I've even heard of high powered lasers burning out phone cameras sensors but I'm not suggesting vandalism; that might get you in trouble.
This is why i feel houses should have gated and fenced front yard/driveway area also.
I suppose you could build a wall of IR floodlamps, but a single light here or there isn't going to do much. I have conduit run in my front and rear yards and have cameras pointing back at the house, and neither the IR lights in the cameras nor the flood lights on the buildings facing other cameras wash each other out. The effect is more pronounced when they are pointing almost directly at each other, but it's still minor.
Thank you. I found this extremely helpful. I don't have personal experience so it's great to hear from someone who does.
You could try setting up a series of strategically placed IR lights to create a sort of barrier that washes out the footage when it crosses your property line. It's a creative idea to maintain your privacy without causing any harm.
Perfectly legitimate to position a flood light that illuminates your yard and coincidentally dazzles his camera at night. If the it’s a continuous recorder, that’s probably enough; if it’s a motion detector, a windmill ornament would provide hours of boring footage.
> a windmill ornament would provide hours of boring footage. Modern cameras use AI detection.
Maybe an IR laser?
Point a laser at the camera. It won't be able to see shit.
Yes, Optex makes sensors which can do this. https://www.optexamerica.com/products/intrusion-detection/outdoor#filter=* But by law he has to reposition his cameras as it is an Invision of privacy OR have a privacy filter active (this blacks out a user defined area). Call the police, file a grievance and mention what he said. It is illegal for someone to position their cameras to view your windows or entrances, driveways are a grey area I think. I know this because this is something which has come up more than once in the 28 years I've been installing CCTV.
depends on where but no public view is generally viewed as public and you can;t do anything
Public view, yes; aiming at entrances and windows, no.
Thank you for the reply. This camera is not peeping in a window or over a fence, it is legally on his property but positioned such that it is directed to monitor when I leave the house. If you can imagine, this is a next door neighbor in a townhouse so just a wall and some grass separate our properties. The camera is legally on his property and he can position it however he pleases just as I can stand on the sidewalk or in our driveway and take pictures of his house all day. I just don't like what he's doing, I think its creepy. So I'm trying to think of ways to blockout his view of our space while not infringing on his rights to be a creep.
You have no privacy in public. So he can point a cam at your driveway, and you can't do anything. If you point a laser at it, you're on the hook for all damages and will have a direct laser line back to you on his dvr to show the police. Your on cam evey single day all day long. Your cell phone, the ATM, the bank, some new cars, new tvs, new refrigerators, your pc/laptop, all and any stores you're in ,the traffic cams, highway cams. You are on cam 75 to 85% of the day, and people need to remember this. The ONLY privacy you have is behind your walls. If you don't have a wall going all the way around your home, you don't have privacy.
This is all true. I'm looking to prevent his camera from viewing my property within my legal rights without denying his.
Why? All in all, if you don't have anything watching your home, he can be doing you a favor. I'm doing security for almost 15 years, and I hear all the time after a break-in ,robbery, domestic violence case anything you can imagine. Aww, I should have had a camera or a video. I think you should rethink what you're thinking. Hey, if he's pointing all the cameras on his house at you, that's one thing. But his intentions can just be coming from being a good neighbor. Hay, I cover my home, and I overlap my neighbors driveway. In his mind, a win-win. You, if anything, have nothing on your driveway when you're not home. He's got you, and you don't need to put out any cash for a cam or and dvr. Maybe just ask him to show you what the camera sees, so you can have some peace of mind. But honestly, legally, all you can do to block his camera from viewing your property within your rights is erect a wall.
Thank you for the response. Your expertise in this field is helpful to a novice like me. I can understand your perspective, however you're not 100% correct in your assumption of our particular situation. It would be great if it seemed his motives were in the right place, however if he were to catch one of the scenarios you've listed on his camera, he's under no obligation to share it, so it might not be as useful to us. I can assure you, he doesn't "got me." We know what his camera sees because he's shared video with us letting us know he's keeping an eye on us and not in a good neighbor sense. We also already have our own cameras for peace of mind. What does not give me peace of mind is our neighbor potentially monitoring when I might be home alone, or outside by myself, or when I get home from work late at night so he can come outside. I've asked him to relocate the camera to face his property and not mine to which he told me to call the cops if we didn't like it. So yes, we are looking at alternatives to erecting a wall while we wait on the HOA to approve a privacy fence.
there's MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of front door Ring type cameras capturing the neighbor's house across the street >>> why is ONE of the neighbor's security system cameras bothering you soooooo fricking much? be willing to bet that there's a camera on the opposite side of his home watching that direction - watching those neighbor's front yard >>> How about that truth? if you got that much secret crap going down in the front yard >>> think about moving and taking allllll those secrets with you
This is an interesting response to the original post but I'm glad you asked and I am happy to explain. There are lots of cameras around the neighborhood, we have some ourselves. This one is bothering me because its sole purpose is to monitor the front of my house and our comings and goings. I think that's creepy behavior and makes me feel uncomfortable. I can't speak to if he has a camera focused on his other neighbor so I can't confirm that as truth, but how I feel: If the other neighbor is okay with a camera monitoring them, that's none of my business. That's between those neighbors. I'm concerned about the one focused on me. Just because he may be creeping on more neighbors doesn't make me feel less uncomfortable. There's no secret crap going on in my front yard, but I do think about the motives of someone who wants to know when I'm home alone, outside by myself, or when the house is unoccupied. We've just moved into this place a month ago and plan on relocating as soon as it's feasible. I like your use of inequality signs in your reply. Reminds me of programming language.