When Alex Wilkins installed a security camera outside his house four years ago, he didn’t actually think it would capture a crime. “I run my business from my home and just wanted a camera to keep an eye on things for liability issues,” says the president of Wilkins IT Solutions in Oshawa, Ont. But a few weeks ago, Wilkins’s neighbour knocked on his door to warn him that his van had been broken into. “It just hit me that the camera might have caught it,” Wilkins says.
He reviewed the footage and, sure enough, there it was. “It gave me goose bumps on the back of my neck to see it happening.” Wilkins offered the recording to his neighbour so that he could show it to his insurance provider.
“We live on a quiet street in a safe neighbourhood, but now I feel the camera was a really worthwhile investment,” Wilkins says. “You just never know.” He adds that the camera also makes his wife feel safe when she’s home alone with their baby. “The best part is that I can review the feed remotely from my phone, which just adds a little more peace of mind.”
However handy they may be, it’s essential to use security cameras responsibly, says Daniel Reid, a privacy lawyer in Vancouver.
“I have a system so I can keep an eye on my dog,” he says. But there can be issues if your neighbours see them as a nuisance, not a benefit. “There’s no law that says you can’t set up security cameras, but people can complain to the province’s privacy commission, or take you to court, if they feel they’re more intrusive than what’s needed for legitimate purposes,” Reid explains.
When setting up a camera, the key is to make it as minimally intrusive as possible. For instance, if you’re in a condo unit and put a camera outside your door, is it angled in such a way that it also looks right into the unit opposite you?
“You just need to decide whether there’s a more reasonable way to do it that isn’t infringing on the rights of others,” Reid says. If you can position cameras so they’re not looking into a neighbour’s property, you’ll reduce the risk of a complaint. “Basically, if you wouldn’t be comfortable with it yourself, don’t set it up that way.”
Similar rules of sensitivity apply to indoor camera use, says Martha Scully, founder of canadiannanny.ca. If you’re using a camera to ensure your kids get in the door safely after school, great, she says, but don’t use it as a parenting tool, or to make sure they’re doing their homework — even though it might be tempting.
“My kids are teens now and there are days I wish we had a camera in every room of the house,” Scully says. Remind yourself, she says, that there’s a fine line between safety and snooping.
The same restraint is required when using nanny cams, which have become so common over the past 15 years that they’re now a standard point of discussion in interviews for caregiving jobs. According to Scully, the two things parents always ask are “Should I get a camera?” and “Should I let my nanny know?” The answer to that second question is unequivocally “yes.”
“We recommend being upfront with your nanny and building [your camera use] into the contract,” Scully says. You just need to remember that what’s captured on the camera doesn’t always reflect the scope of the employee’s entire day. Cameras should also be confined to public areas (i.e., living rooms and kitchens, not bathrooms and bedrooms). “If you have a live-in nanny, there should never be a camera in her personal space,” Scully says.
She also warns against using nanny cams to micromanage everything your nanny does. “When cameras are used responsibly, they can be helpful on both sides,” she says. Scully surveyed nannies who use her service and found many are quite comfortable having a nanny camera in the house.
“When their days are monitored, there are no questions about what they’re doing or not doing,” she says. “It can give both parents and nannies some extra reassurance.”
This content was produced by The Globe and Mail's Globe Edge Content Studio, in consultation with an advertiser. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.