"The neighbor installed a camera opposite my door." The camera smart door lock takes the corridor into the camera and triggers the recording function as soon as the neighbor opens the door.
"The neighbor installed a camera opposite my door." Recently, Mr. Yu, a Beijing citizen, called to report that the neighbor next door installed a camera next to the door to prevent the express delivery left at the door from being stolen. Since the two houses are close to each other, the The camera covers both entrances at the same time.
Every entry and exit was captured by the camera. Mr. Yu felt that his privacy had been violated, so he communicated with his neighbors and hoped to remove the camera.
"We communicated many times, and then I became anxious, and the other party reluctantly agreed to take down the camera."
So, can residents install cameras at their own doorsteps?
Is it an invasion of privacy if the camera captures the image at my neighbor's door?
With these questions in mind, the reporter conducted an investigative interview.
□ Reporter Han Dandong
□ Zhai Qiyu, an intern of this newspaper
“I feel like a thief when I go in and out of my house.” Ms. Liu, a resident of Jizhou District, Tianjin, complained in a recent interview with a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily.
It turned out that in January this year, Ms. Liu discovered that a smart cat-eye door lock was installed on her neighbor's house opposite. Once someone approached and stayed, the video recording function of the door lock would be triggered.
Since the community has two households on one elevator, and the neighbor's door is close to the elevator, Ms. Liu's family will inevitably trigger the video recording function of the door lock when entering or exiting.
"I have negotiated with my neighbor many times. The other party said that the purpose of installing the door lock with camera function is to ensure the safety of the elderly and children at home. It is installed on their own door and others cannot control it." Ms. Liu said that the two sides are currently in a tense situation. If that doesn't work, I can only install a camera and aim it at my neighbor's door.
Similar disputes are not uncommon.
In recent interviews, reporters found that with the development of technology and the improvement of people's safety awareness, smart cameras, smart door locks, smart peepholes, etc. have been widely used.
However, when these devices are installed on or at the door of one's own home, the shooting range is likely to cover the door of the neighbor's home, so it is often questioned that the right to privacy is violated.
Experts interviewed pointed out that cameras, smart door locks with camera functions, etc. will record the personal whereabouts of neighbors and information about people who interact with them. These are usually within the scope of protection of natural persons’ privacy rights. If they are to be installed, the consent of the neighbors must be obtained in advance. Otherwise, it is suspected of infringing on the privacy rights of others.
Improper filming or use of captured videos will result in civil, administrative and even criminal liability.
Video equipment "hung" to your door
Causing constant conflicts between neighbors
Not long ago, Ms. Wang's home in Nankai District, Tianjin City installed a new smart door lock with a camera function. When the camera detects that an unfamiliar face stays in front of the door for a long time, it will issue a warning. The household owner can also use the door lock to Issue a warning to keep suspicious persons away as quickly as possible.
Unexpectedly, the installation of the smart door lock caused dissatisfaction among many neighbors.
Because Ms. Wang lives on the first floor and is relatively close to the elevator, when her neighbors upstairs come in and out and take the elevator, if they stay in the elevator for a long time, the smart door lock will sound a warning sound, which bothers some neighbors.
"I was waiting for the elevator, and the sudden warning sound was scary." said Grandma Li, who lives upstairs.
Many neighbors came to the door and asked Ms. Wang to change the door locks. Ms. Wang felt a little aggrieved: "My child is often at home alone, so I installed smart door locks to ensure his safety. Even if I took some images of the elevator entrance, there is no privacy." Information. Besides, I only bought the smart door lock a month ago, so it would be a waste to replace it.”
Not only smart door locks, but also smart peepholes, cameras, video doorbells... Various devices with camera functions are used on and in front of homes, causing constant disputes and conflicts among neighbors.
The dark lens flashed red dots from time to time, and accompanied by the beeping alarm sound, the scene of Ms. Liu, who lives in Cangzhou, Hebei, putting on shoes in the corridor was recorded.
"Every time I go out, there is a beep-dee sound in the corridor, and the cat's eye on the door opposite flashes red."
It turned out that the neighbor had replaced a smart cat eye on the door with functions such as camera and stranger alarm. Ms. Liu was judged as a stranger by the smart cat eye many times.
To this end, Ms. Liu communicated with her neighbors and found that the trigger range of the smart cat eye was very large. The door of Ms. Liu's home was within the monitoring range of the cat eye. The images of opening and closing doors and family members entering and exiting would be recorded by the cat eye and then transmitted to the neighbor's mobile app.
A neighbor of Ms. Li's house in Xi'an, Shaanxi, recently installed a camera on the door. The neighbor explained that a person worried about safety at home, so installing a 24-hour video camera can monitor the movement of the corridor at all times and prevent strangers from misbehaving.
The neighbor was relieved, but Ms. Li was worried: "The camera is installed on the door frame, and the lens is facing the corridor. Our home is constantly monitored." Ms. Li negotiated with the neighbor many times, and finally the neighbor agreed to adjust the camera angle to try to avoid Open Ms. Li's house.
In February last year, Mr. Xu, a Tianjin citizen, installed a certain brand of visual doorbell at his door. As long as a stranger stayed at the door for a long time, the doorbell would trigger an alarm and the video would be simultaneously transmitted to his mobile phone.
A month later, Mr. Xu suddenly found that the video picture had become very blurry. After checking, he found that the doorbell camera had been smeared with glue by the old man next door.
The next day after cleaning up, the doorbell camera was directly damaged and unable to record.
When Mr. Xu found the old man, he said angrily: Every time he passed by, the alarm would be triggered. The sharp alarm sound once scared him and he almost fell down.
Other neighbors also complained that the visual doorbell installed by Mr. Xu was too noisy.
Finally Mr. Xu removed the doorbell.
The reporter's interview found that the interviewees had different opinions on the neighbors installing cameras or equipment with camera functions at the door.
Some people think that the scenes in the corridor are not private, and these devices are for safety reasons, so there is no need to worry too much, "as long as the neighbors inform them in advance."
But more people are worried: "Not only are their whereabouts being monitored, but they have to reduce the opening and closing of the door, for fear that the camera will capture the scene inside the house. What is even more worrying is that they have no idea where these videos will be used."
Smart devices are easily available
Recording function is difficult to turn off
Such smart devices with camera functions can be purchased freely on shopping platforms.
Taking smart cat eyes as an example, a reporter searched on a shopping platform and found that the sales of many smart cat eyes are very impressive.
Unlike traditional cat eyes, electronic cat eyes have a wider field of view and higher clarity, allowing you to see clearly even when looking outside at night.
When someone appears in the "field of view", monitoring can be started intelligently and snapshots can be quickly captured and stored.
You can even send the captured footage to your mobile phone for review.
When asking customer service, each store was trying their best to promote the various functions of their products, but there was no hint on whether the recording function would infringe on other people's privacy and related installation precautions.
When the reporter asked a number of merchants with high sales volume "whether the electronic peephole will photograph neighbors" and "what to do if the other party raises objections", some customer service staff said lightly "he (neighbor) doesn't know", while others suggested Negotiate amicably with neighbors.
During the interview, many interviewees told reporters that the original intention of installing equipment with video recording functions was to ensure the safety of their homes and had no intention of infringing on the privacy of their neighbors.
"But the function settings of some smart devices are not 'smart' enough at all." said an interviewee who had had conflicts with neighbors over the installation of smart door locks.
The reporter's investigation found that the video recording functions of some smart door locks on the market either cannot be turned off automatically, or the closing procedures are complicated.
In December last year, Mr. Chen from Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province ordered a smart door lock on a shopping platform. The door lock has face recognition, doorbell video calling and camera functions. It also supports 24-hour viewing of the outside of the door on the mobile app. , once someone is wandering at the door or trying to open the door, it will automatically record the video.
What Mr. Chen didn't expect was that not long after the door lock was installed, his neighbor came to the door.
"We all live on the same floor. Our two doors are facing each other. Your house has a door lock with a camera. The comings and goings of our family are all captured on your phone. I always feel that my privacy has been violated. If you buy something other than a regular door lock, these videos may fall into the hands of criminals and cause great harm to our family," said Mr. Chen's neighbor.
Mr. Chen also realized that there was something wrong with this move, but when he wanted to turn off the video recording function, he found that the function could not be turned off and could only turn off the sound effects.
Ms. Zhang from Binhai New District, Tianjin installed a certain smart door lock.
When placing the order, considering the safety of the elderly and children at home, Ms. Zhang chose a door lock with the most functions, including video surveillance, stranger warning, and mobile app screen sharing... These functions gave her a lot of peace of mind.
However, it didn’t take long before Ms. Zhang’s mobile phone frequently received warning sounds from strangers, and the elderly at home were also annoyed by the alarm sounds from the video surveillance.
It turns out that there is a B&B opposite Ms. Zhang’s house, and many tenants come and go every day. Tenants often “accidentally” enter the monitoring range, which triggers the alarm sound. Not only does the tenant startle, but Ms. Zhang’s family is also disturbed.
In desperation, Ms. Zhang wanted to turn off the door lock video surveillance function, but found that the function could not be turned off independently. She had to remove the door lock battery. "Without the battery, you can only use the key to unlock the door, and other functions cannot be used."
After contacting the merchant, Ms. Zhang was told that she could only replace the door lock without camera monitoring function.
Finally, she purchased and replaced it with another low-profile smart door lock, and her life returned to peace.
A smart door lock installer told reporters that the trigger range of most door lock camera functions is within 5 meters. The distance between opposite doors in many old residential areas is less than 5 meters. When a neighbor opens the door, the opposite door lock triggers the video recording function.
The installer also told reporters that the design procedures of cheap smart door locks are generally simple, and usually do not have the option to turn off the camera, or that all operations are "one size fits all" and all electronic functions are turned off with one click.
Taking a smart door lock sold on an e-commerce platform as an example, the customer service staff said that to turn off the camera function independently, you need to enter the setting system and enter the administrator password before you can choose to turn it off. It also needs to be operated inside and outside the door, which is very troublesome.
The customer service of a store selling another smart door lock on this platform told reporters that the camera function of their product can only be turned off by removing the built-in battery of the door lock and forcing the door lock into sleep mode.
"But after doing this, you will not be able to use the fingerprint and face recognition functions."
The difficult-to-limit camera range also troubles many smart device users.
Mr. Zhou's family lives on the first floor of a community in Tianjin. Because it has a small yard, Mr. Zhou's children like to play in the yard. The family installed a camera on the door leading to the yard. The camera can be remotely controlled using a mobile phone. , comes with a 360-degree shooting function.
The reporter found on Mr. Zhou’s mobile phone that he could clearly understand the situation of pedestrians through the camera, and could even capture private information such as whether the residents on the first floor opposite were at home through the glass window.
"If I had a choice, I would not want to know the whereabouts of passers-by and neighbors at all, but the merchant gave me no prompts when I made the purchase, and the camera range cannot be adjusted. If I change the angle, I am afraid that I will not be able to observe the child." She was caught in a dilemma. Mr. Zhou expressed emotion, "Can businesses that make smart devices with camera functions give more consideration to the actual situation and make the camera function controllable to avoid infringing on other people's privacy?"
Suspected of invading other people's privacy
Installation should be done with consent
Will products such as smart door locks with camera functions infringe on privacy?
Zhu Xiaofeng, a professor at the Law School of the Central University of Finance and Economics, believes that installing cameras or smart door locks with camera functions at the door will risk infringing on the privacy rights of neighbors. According to the Civil Code, privacy is a natural person’s private life and peace and unwillingness to be known to others. The core of private space, private activities, and private information lies in not wanting others to know about it. Cameras, smart door locks with camera functions, etc. will record the personal whereabouts of neighbors and information about people who interact with them. These are usually the privacy of natural persons. scope of rights protection.
Zhu Xiaofeng introduced that legal liability caused by infringing on the privacy of others is divided into civil liability, administrative liability and criminal liability according to different legal provisions. Civil liability is mainly divided into property liability and non-property liability. Property liability such as infringing on the privacy of others causes the victim to suffer In the case of severe mental damage, the victim may claim the right to compensation for mental damage; non-property responsibilities include stopping the infringement, restoring reputation, and making an apology.
"If someone peeps, secretly photographs, eavesdrops, or spreads other people's privacy, he will be detained for not more than 5 days or fined not more than 500 yuan according to the Public Security Administration Punishment Law; if the circumstances are serious, he will be detained for not less than 5 days but not more than 10 days, and may also be fined not more than 500 yuan. A fine of not more than RMB 10,000 will be imposed." Zhu Xiaofeng said that because personal private information is both personal information and privacy, it is illegal to handle private information, and in serious cases, it may also violate criminal law.
So, how to balance the boundaries between personal security and other people’s privacy?
Yang Min, a lawyer at Beijing Yingke Law Firm, believes that according to the Civil Code, no organization or individual may infringe on the privacy rights of others unless otherwise provided by law or with the express consent of the rights holder.
When individual residents install equipment with camera functions, they can consider negotiating with interested neighbors and install it with their consent, or choose to install it only indoors to avoid possible personal information and privacy issues. Infringement issue.
"If a home that installs this facility is complained by neighbors, the community committee and other relevant entities should communicate with the home that installs the facility in a friendly manner, advise them to legally install relevant equipment and facilities, and promptly dismantle the equipment and facilities that infringe on the privacy rights of neighbors." Yang Min explain.
Many interviewees who have used smart door locks with camera functions suggested that manufacturers of these smart devices should further standardize industry standards and improve technological levels, so that users can operate the devices more conveniently and adjust the coverage angle and range of the devices. etc., to prevent infringement of other people’s privacy, and to ensure the security of information uploaded to online platforms, so that technology can better serve the people and enhance their sense of security.