I have a tussenwoning house with garden and a shed(berging). The neighbours garden is separated by a wooden fence of max height 190 cm.

I want to place a CCTV in the back garden to protect against break in/ theft.

These are two options I see

1. Place CCTV in the rear façade facing the back gate at a height below the common fence(protect privacy of neighbour).
2. Place CCTV in the shed(berging) facing the back gate and outside common area.

Like this

[https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/57589604/132402896-79f23173-17f6-4b95-b401-0006aac8e649.png](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/57589604/132402896-79f23173-17f6-4b95-b401-0006aac8e649.png)

1. Is the placement of the CCTV in the positions mentioned above commonly accepted practise in the Netherlands?
2. Do my neighbour have the right to ask me to take it down?
3. Is there a better position to place the cctv?
4. Is the video doorbell at the main entrance 100% legally accepted?

Note: I want to know what is commonly accepted practice in NL instead of ask neighbour directly which can be awkward.

10 comments

  1. 1: yes and no. absolutely not when recording someone else’s property, mainly due to privacy and decency

    2: yes, they always do, but only have a right to have it taken down as long as your filming their property or right of way

    3: yes, inside. that’s where the action happens.

    4: no, only if it ONLY records when being ringed and only records the person(s) ringing

    5: start by getting a better gate lock and proper anti-climb protection…prevention is cheaper, easier and simpler than trying to get a case against someone wearing a hoodie and a balaklava…Also, become friends with you neighbours so you can all use your social network to help each other

  2. You are legally only allowed to film your own property, so you can put it up where you like as long as the house and garden of your neighbors and the public street/path behind your house are not visible at all. And then obviously since you are not filming them in any way, your neighbor can’t ask you to take it down. But maybe inform them that you’re putting it up and that they are not visible on it, just to avoid any confusion.

  3. Installing cameras in and around your one’s home is definitely not a common and accepted practise in the Netherlands, and rightfully so imo.

    I don’t have a degree in law or anything so don’t quote me here and I advise you to check into the laws and legalities yourself.

    A quick search online will tell you that you may only film your private property.
    In the images that you’ve posted you can clearly see into your neighbour’s windows so that’s definitely a no go.
    They’d probably be fully in their right to ask of you to take the cameras down if that is what they’re filming. Maybe you can angle them further downward so the images don’t go higher than your fence?

    The use of doorbell cameras also seem to be somewhat debatable but they seem to be more widely used. From what I can tell is that they need to be “smart” as in only going on when their use is legitimate, not always on. Continually filming a public space (the street in front of your house) would be breaking the law. Having it in shot when somebody rings the doorbell seems to be considered somewhat unavoidable and kind of a grey area in privacy laws.

    Again, try to look into the legalities yourself. It could be easy to break a law here by using cameras in a way that is not legal.

  4. Here’s the thing, it won’t really protect you. It can be done in seconds and the only thing the camera adds is some nice mostly worthless video material where you can see a masked person walk away with your laptop.

  6. Instead of seeking the boundries of whats allowed, have this conversation with your neighbours and ask them their insight/reaction. Im sure they appreciate you for thinking about their privacy and together u can find the camera-placement that makes u both happy.

  7. Camera’s are not commonly accepted and can raise suspicion/anger amongst your neighbors. So when you do, include them and explain you are not filming their property. Both the positions in your photo are not correct and should be pointed more downwards (IANAL).

    I don’t know where you live but with the following link you can check how often burglary happens in the postal area:
    https://www.politie.nl/mijn-buurt/misdaad-in-kaart/lijst

    In my area it has 4 times occurred of which 2 were attempts and never heard about it happen to someone until recently due to her living in a more high profile place (standalone house next to a train station, selling something through marktplaats). You living in a tussenwoning already lower your chances greatly, get good locks on your door and maybe even an anti burglary strip and you are probably fine.

  8. Note that most not really bad camera’s can automatically blur parts of the picture so you can exclude the parts that are not your property. You should avoid storing things for needlessly long periods as well.

  9. Before you do that, installing a camera might lead to some (social) issues.

    It’s highly uncommon, unless you’re some public figure or just filthy rich. If that’s not the obvious case, people will probably think you got something to hide or are a paranoid guy no matter your motives.

    Usually it’s the neighbours that function as security cameras. It’s better to have good contact with them than retreating in a fort with cameras, just because you fear the possibility of a burglar.

  10. Whenever I see a CCTV in a non-villa quarter, I always think: here lives someone shady. It might even draw unnecessary attention from would-be robbers.

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