Almost everyone recognises the image, the bored older lady in your street that spends her days looking out of the window, watching their neighbours’ every step (including yours!). A study commissioned as part of the National Home Security Month in the UK found that one in three people admit to spying on their neighbours and 10 percent even admits to have been caught doing so (Daily Mail, 2014). Especially since Covid-19 has taken over our lives, even though there might be less to see on the streets there are more eyes bored enough to be watching it.
Although your neighbour might be annoying, she cannot really do much more harm other than gossip about you. However, in the digital age even our good old spying neighbours are being replaced by devices. Last Tuesday, the Dutch national broadcaster NOS published an article stating that your neighbours might now be filming you. The reason for this? Smart doorbells.
Smart doorbells, ranging from 100 to 500 euros, are a smart device that allows you to see who is standing in front of your door without requiring your presence. The device has a built-in camera and most of them enable you to record whatever this camera sees, it is not even necessary for someone to ring the bell in order for the recording to start. Market research by Multiscope found that half a million Dutch households already own a smart doorbell. However, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) warns owners that there are some limitations to this use. Smart doorbell owners are not allowed to continuously record if their doorbell is aimed at neighbours property or the public street. (Schellevis, 2020) The DPA emphasize the threats that these doorbells pose to the privacy of neighbours, stating that these devices are really not meant to record your neighbours’ domestic fights and that you need a very good reason to be recording at all (e.g. recent break-ins).
I for one, am happy that the DPA is guarding our privacy in this matter, because although it seems nice to be able to answer the door without leaving the comfort of my bed, I would prefer for my neighbours not to be filming anything that I do in or around my house. What about you? Is your next-door neighbour invading your privacy? And how are the authorities where you live protecting you from this potential invasion?
Thanks for reading 🙂
References:
Daily Mail (2014) One in three of us spy on our neighbours: Half of people surveyed said they knew when next door leave and return from work. Daily Mail. Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2794871/one-three-spy-neighbours-half-people-surveyed-said-knew-door-leave-return-work.html
Schellevis, J. (2020). Privacywaakhond waarschuwt: zet camera slimme deurbel niet zomaar aan. NOS. Available at: https://nos.nl/artikel/2351161-privacywaakhond-waarschuwt-zet-camera-slimme-deurbel-niet-zomaar-aan.html
(Price range smart doorbells via https://www.coolblue.nl/en/doorbells/smart-doorbells)
Hi Romy!
Nice and interesting post! I knew that a lot of people have these smart doorbells, yet I did not really consider the fact that these devices are also able to film when there is nobody in front of the door. The idea of my neighbours spying on me is not really a nice one. I think privacy in general is a very important issue these days. Since we are living in a time in which technology and digitalization is so important, the privacy issue is following us everywhere. When implementing digital innovations, such as the smart doorbells, often conflicting interests exist. If we look at your example of smart doorbells, at one side it brings safety as you are able to see who is in front of your house whenever you want. On the other side, the idea that you may be spied on by your neighbor may bring feelings of insecurity and may give you the feeling you lost part of your privacy. Another more recent example is the corona application called ‘Coronamelder’. This application will be available as of the 10’th of October, and it may help with slowing down the disperse of the virus. Yet besides the benefits the application brings about, the application is not entirely private and people might not want to use it due to privacy issues. To conclude, I think privacy is a very difficult issue as often conflicting interests exist. Just like in the case of the smart doorbell, I think we have to keep looking critical at the costs versus benefits. Does a smart doorbell really bring about large benefits or does it actually impede one’s privacy too much? And if we keep such a technological device, in which way can we minimize the privacy infringement? Because of these questions, I think institutions like the Dutch Data Protection Authority are very important.