An video doorbell at the door of the house was sentenced to infringe on the privacy of the neighbor [Tongzhou Court: The video doorbell should avoid photographing the neighbor, if it is really impossible to avoid it, the neighbor's consent should be obtained before installation]
At present, many residents will use high-tech products to protect their home security, such as video doorbells, cameras and other devices, but they should pay attention to obey laws and regulations when using these devices to avoid violating the privacy of others and causing conflicts in the neighborhood. The reporter learned that recently, the People's Court of Tongzhou District, Beijing heard a case of privacy and personal information infringement, and determined that the installation of video doorbells and cameras constituted infringement, and the judgment was to remove them.
The installation of a video doorbell in front of the house was sued by a neighbor for invasion of privacy
It is understood that Mr. Han, who lives in a community in Tongzhou, Beijing, found that his neighbor Ms. Wu installed a video doorbell at the door of his house, and installed a surveillance camera above the door, which can just shoot the situation at the door of Mr. Han's house, and the video doorbell and camera have video storage functions, Mr. Han's every move will be known by Ms. Wu, which makes Mr. Han feel uncomfortable, so he found Ms. Wu to discuss the demolition, Ms. Wu refused on the grounds of safety precautions, and the two sides argued. Believing that Ms. Wu had invaded her privacy, Mr. Han sued her in court to remove the video doorbell and camera.
During the trial, Ms. Wu admitted the fact that the camera and video doorbell were installed, but the installation of the above-mentioned devices was for the needs of home security, and Mr. Han's situation would not be filmed. In addition, Ms. Wu argued that video doorbells and doorway cameras had been widely used as home security products, and that the existing law did not prohibit individuals from installing such devices, and that she had the right to know the pedestrians and situations in front of her home, so she did not agree with all of Mr. Han's claims.
After the judge's on-site investigation, the video doorbell of Ms. Wu's entrance security door was facing Mr. Han's entrance security door, which could take pictures of the entire platform at the corner of the stairs and Mr. Han's security door. Ms. Wu's upper left camera of the entrance security door faces south, which can shoot the entire platform at the corner of the staircase, and now Ms. Wu uses adhesive tape to cover part of the camera, which can shoot about half of the area of the corner of the staircase and half of the area of the staircase of the descending staircase.
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trial
Infringement is constituted and the judgment is made to remove the video doorbell within a time limit
The Tongzhou District People's Court held that natural persons enjoy the right to privacy. Privacy refers to the tranquility of a natural person's private life and the private space, private activities, and private information that he or she does not want others to know. Personal information refers to all kinds of information recorded electronically or otherwise that can identify a specific natural person, either alone or in combination with other information, including natural person biometric information, address, health information, whereabouts information, etc.
According to the ascertained facts, the cat's eye smart doorbell installed by Ms. Wu and the upper left camera of the entrance security door can all photograph the entire platform at the corner of the stairs between Ms. Wu and Mr. Han, and Mr. Han's personal information such as entering and leaving the house and others going up and down the stairs can be filmed and retained. At present, although Ms. Wu has blocked some of the cameras, the occlusion is subjective, temporary and uncertain, and after the occlusion, she can still shoot about half of the corner of the staircase and half of the area of the staircase of the descending staircase, so the possibility and risk of shooting the information of Mr. Han and other others cannot be ruled out.
Therefore, Ms. Wu's personal interests and without Mr. Han's consent lacked legality, legitimacy and necessity in recording and retaining personal information, which constituted infringement, and Mr. Han's claim to dismantle the two camera devices had a factual and legal basis, and the court upheld it. In the end, the Tongzhou court ordered Ms. Wu to remove the video doorbell and camera within seven days, and neither party appealed after the judgment was made, and the judgment has now taken effect.
On the law
Judge: Install a video doorbell to keep the view at your doorstep as much as possible
What laws and regulations did Ms. Wu violate in this case?
Chapter 6 of the Personality Rights Section of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China provides detailed provisions on privacy and personal information protection, including the definition of privacy, the infringement of privacy, the definition of personal information, the principles and conditions for the processing of personal information, and the reasons for exemption from liability for the processing of personal information. Article 995 of the Civil Code stipulates that the tortfeasor shall bear tort liability, including stopping the infringement, removing obstacles, eliminating dangers, eliminating impacts, restoring reputations, and making formal apologies, and the statute of limitations does not apply. In this case, Ms. Wu's installation of a video doorbell infringed on Mr. Han's private living space and violated his privacy and personal information.
What are the possible hidden dangers of installing video doorbells, cameras and other equipment?
Article 1034 of the Civil Code stipulates the scope of personal information, including the name, date of birth, ID number, biometric information, address, telephone number, e-mail address, health information, whereabouts information, etc. Secondly, there is the possibility of leaking one's own and others' information, if the equipment has production safety defects or the user uses it improperly, it may suffer illegal technological intrusion, leak the stored face information and other personal information to the outside world, cause property losses to oneself and others, and even threaten the personal safety of individuals and family members. Finally, selling or providing to others the personal information of neighbors may also involve a criminal offence in serious cases.
If you really need to install a video doorbell, what problems should you pay attention to?
First, when installing video doorbells and other equipment, try to control the field of vision at the door of your own home, avoid taking pictures of your neighbors' doors and neighbors' passing places, and avoid violating your neighbors' privacy. Second, if the installation of the above-mentioned equipment is still unavoidable to photograph the neighbor's range of action after many adjustments, it is necessary to explain the situation to the neighbor and obtain the consent of the neighbor before installation, do not conceal or forcibly install, otherwise it will not only infringe on the privacy and other rights of the neighbor, but also intensify the neighborhood conflict and cause more conflicts. Third, when using the above-mentioned equipment, it is necessary to choose the quality assurance products produced by regular manufacturers, and maintain and update the system in a timely manner to prevent the technical invasion of others, and replace the products with security vulnerabilities in a timely manner. Fourth, in getting along with neighbors, think more empathetically, solicit the opinions of others, know the law and abide by the law, compare hearts to hearts, and build a beautiful neighborhood relationship.
Beijing News reporter Zhang Jingshu