Cameras in your own home

The most important rule about cameras in your own home is that it is only allowed  to film your own property. You are, therefore, not permitted to film other people’s property, such as your neighbour’s house or garden. In principle, you are also not permitted to film public roads, such as pavements or parking spaces.

It is your responsibility to adjust the camera so it only records your property. If you have your camera installed by an installation company, check in what way the installer sets up the camera. And indicate that you want to set the camera to be privacy-proof. Check for yourself whether your camera is indeed aimed only at your property.

Rules for cameras at home

Sometimes you really have no choice but to film a section of public road. For example, because your front door is directly adjacent to the public road. In that case, you must ensure you infringe the privacy of passers-by as little as possible. These are the rules:

• adjust the camera properly;
• inform people about the camera;
• retain the images briefly or not at all;
• do not share the images;
• blur faces of passers-by;
• secure the camera images;
• respect the privacy rights of the people you film.

Adjust the camera properly

Make sure you only record your own property. For example, only your garden, not your neighbour’s garden.
You can use your camera’s settings to zoom the camera image as much as possible on your own property. This way, your neighbour’s garden, for example, won’t be visible.

If your camera is aimed at a public road, such as the pavement or parking spaces, make sure you film as little of this as possible.

So if, for example, your scooter is parked on the street and you want to film it, privacy rules do not allow you to film the entire street. You may only film the part of the street where your scooter is parked. You do this by zooming in the camera image as much as possible.

If filming a section of public road or pavement is unavoidable, you can use the additional privacy settings of your camera.

Inform people about the camera

You must inform people who come onto your property that you are filming them. You can do that by, for example, putting up a sign saying that camera surveillance is in use.

If you have a video doorbell, make sure people who want to ring your doorbell know they are being filmed, via a sticker for example. This allows them to choose not to ring the doorbell if they prefer not to be recorded.

Retain the images briefly or not at all

Retain the images your camera records for as short a time as possible. Delete the images as soon as you no longer need them. For example, after 24 hours. Check your camera settings to see if you can have the images deleted automatically.

Or: don’t save images at all. If you have a video doorbell, you can only watch live who is at the door when the doorbell rings. It is not allowed to save those images.

Do not share the images

You are not allowed to simply share the images, for example, by posting them on the Internet. You can only do this if the people being recorded have given their consent.

If a criminal offence has been committed, you can, of course, share the images with the police if you file a report. The police may also request or demand images from you. 

Blur faces of passers-by

If recording a section of public road is unavoidable, you can blur the faces of passers-by in the public space. This way, people are less likely to be recognised or not as easily.

Secure the camera images

Make sure you properly secure your camera images. This way, your camera cannot be hacked.

You can do this in any case by setting your own password. And, if possible, also your own username. Never continue using a password set by the manufacturer.

Read the camera manual carefully to see which options you can use to properly protect the images.

Respect the privacy rights of the people you film

The people you film have privacy rights. This means, for example, they have the right to view the images you have made of them.

Note: The above rules also apply if you have registered your camera on the police's 'Camera in Beeld' platform. Moreover, properly adjusting your camera is your responsibility. You cannot simply rely on an installation company for that.

Tip: Use the Step-by-step plan for cameras at home.

Intentionally filming public spaces

Only in very exceptional cases may you deliberately point a camera at a part of your neighbour’s property or public space. For example, if there are serious and demonstrable security problems, such as many burglaries in the area. And if there really is no other solution than using a camera.

Camera images are often personal data. You need a good reason to be permitted to process personal data. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) lists the 6 reasons. These reasons are called legal bases.

Legitimate interest

One of the possible legal bases is called ‘necessary for the representation of a legitimate interest’. This may be a legal basis for your camera use.

But in that case, you will have to meet all conditions for a legitimate interest. This is a legal check based on the GDPR.

Those conditions are:

• You have a legitimate interest. Such as protecting your property or people, because there are a lot of burglaries in your neighbourhood.
• Camera surveillance is necessary. Necessity consists of two requirements.
  Firstly, the purpose of the camera surveillance must be proportionate to the invasion of the privacy of people. For example: you film the entire street, while you can also film only part of the street to protect your property. By filming the entire street, the invasion of privacy is much greater. The camera surveillance is probably disproportionate to the invasion of privacy.
  Secondly, you must find out whether there is another option to protect your property that is less intrusive on people’s privacy.
•  You have weighed up the importance of camera surveillance and the privacy interests of the people you film.

If you fail to meet these conditions, you are not permitted to point your camera at public roads.

In case of violation

If your camera films other people’s property or public roads, while this is not necessary, you are violating the privacy law. The Data Protection Authority (DPA) may ask you questions about your camera surveillance. For example, if someone files a complaint with the DPA about your camera. The DPA may then take action against you in various ways if your camera is not set up to be privacy-proof. 

Dummy camera

Do you have a dummy camera or a camera that is not switched on? In that case, the rules for cameras do not apply, because you are not filming anything. But your neighbours or passers-by may still feel their privacy is being invaded if they see a camera.

Especially if your camera is pointed at public roads or your neighbour’s property, which is not permitted if your camera is switched on. Therefore, only point the camera at your own property to avoid unrest or conflict.

Providing camera images to the police

The police may request or demand images from your camera. In this case, they probably demand the images from your camera in connection with a criminal offence, and they need your images to solve or prevent that criminal offence. In that case, you are obliged to cooperate. 

You do not have to let people in the images know that you have provided the images to the police. We do recommend checking if this is the case in your situation. If you have any doubts about this, please seek legal advice.