Legality of recording within my apartment

Panda

I thought someone was in my apartment when I was at work recently so I setup a camera using an old iphone and the Manything app. (It turns your camera into a live feed and records on motion to your account online).

It sits in a little dock pointing at the main door of the living room and I'm not recording in any other part of the apartment or pointing out the windows.

Obviously if I record someone coming into the property, a previous tenant who cut a copy of the key for example, that is fine.
My question is, if this someone turned out to be my landlord having a cheeky look around without my knowledge, is it illegal to record them?

Add on question, if my landlord wanted to get access to the property during the day to check someone/do a repair on something would I have to let them know that I had a camera in place first or can I just record away?

Calahonda52

It's what you do with the material and how it is controlled/kept secure: there is no obligation to tell anyone about it, landlord or not, who should only enter by agreement/notice. Its your private property and as u say you are not going outside that.

There was a case where a guys house was robbed and his internal CCTV picked it up, he posted the footage on the web, looking for the perps and the data protection folk made him take it down off the web.

In passing, is it good quality stuff?

Panda

Thanks for your reply. I'm not intending to put anything online, but if my landlord is coming in without notice then I want to make sure I'm not going to get on the wrong side of the law if I have to talk to him about it.

The quality is decent for what I'm using. Its and old iphone 4 and only in a room lit by daylight so not really pushing it too hard I suppose.
The video you get from the site is in mp4, 480 x 360 @ 15fps(I think I can increase the fps). The sound is also good. The video player on the site is very glitchy but hey, its a free service.

I like that if you walked in and saw a phone plugged in and charging it probably wouldn't be of any interest but if you saw a webcam plugged into a laptop (my other last minute option) you'd probably question it. The only worry is that the phone over heats... Thankfully the screen turns off but continues to record.

Thanks again!

kub

Panda wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. I'm not intending to put anything online, but if my landlord is coming in without notice then I want to make sure I'm not going to get on the wrong side of the law if I have to talk to him about it.

The quality is decent for what I'm using. Its and old iphone 4 and only in a room lit by daylight so not really pushing it too hard I suppose.
The video you get from the site is in mp4, 480 x 360 @ 15fps(I think I can increase the fps). The sound is also good. The video player on the site is very glitchy but hey, its a free service.

I like that if you walked in and saw a phone plugged in and charging it probably wouldn't be of any interest but if you saw a webcam plugged into a laptop (my other last minute option) you'd probably question it. The only worry is that the phone over heats... Thankfully the screen turns off but continues to record.

Thanks again!

Speaking here as an installer, it is one thing recording video, but a totally different story with audio. Something to do with a law that was passed back in the 70's due to phone tapping.
It is the Data Commissioner who decides now about CCTV footage and the rules and regs with it, so i would suggest their website.

KoolKid

The whole CCTV thing is ridiculous at this stage.
We have mobile phones capable of recording 4k.
You have cheap drones capable of doing the same. You have dash cams capable of the same and people walkingwalking around with Go Pros.
On top of that on any major road or street you are on CCTV anyway. Unless images are published somewhere this is impossible to police. Likewise it is going to be virtually impossible to police the duration images can be held for.

Panda

kub wrote: »

Speaking here as an installer, it is one thing recording video, but a totally different story with audio. Something to do with a law that was passed back in the 70's due to phone tapping.
It is the Data Commissioner who decides now about CCTV footage and the rules and regs with it, so i would suggest their website.

Thanks, I can easily strip the audio out to avoid any of that if needed. I'll take a look at that site though.

mickoneill31

https://www.dataprotection.ie/docs/Data-Protection-CCTV/242.htm

Down near the bottom.
The processing of personal data kept by an individual and concerned solely with the management of his/her personal, family or household affairs or kept by an individual for recreational purposes is exempt from the provisions of the Acts.

Panda

mickoneill31 wrote: »

https://www.dataprotection.ie/docs/Data-Protection-CCTV/242.htm

Down near the bottom.
The processing of personal data kept by an individual and concerned solely with the management of his/her personal, family or household affairs or kept by an individual for recreational purposes is exempt from the provisions of the Acts.

Good enough for me. Thanks.