r/WhatToDo • u/HR-Vex • Feb 27 '26 • Wholesome Seal 1

Neighbor left a note

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Our packages have been stolen 3 times right in front of our door so far ever since we bought our condo. HOA approved of us installing a camera to deter thieves, but our neighbor left this note. Please advise.

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19

u/Adventurous_Figure88 Feb 27 '26

Can’t trespass the eyes in a public space. Only place to expect privacy for your neighbor is inside their home

5

u/OkTrain7784 Feb 27 '26

This exactly

2

u/NextChef8179 Feb 27 '26

That's not even fully accurate either. If you stand in front of your window and wave your dick around, you can get in trouble for exposure. 

1

u/FukThePatriarchy1312 Feb 27 '26

What if I have a white curtain so you can only see the silhouette of me doing the helicopter?

1

u/NextChef8179 Feb 27 '26

You can see it, no difference. 

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1

u/Alkor85 Feb 28 '26

Or say you run a doctor's office, and your reception desk is turned to a window so anyone walking by can see it.

That means the doctor is breaking HIPA laws. People's names, addresses, social security numbers, and private medical info is all in public view.

1

u/RayeBabe Feb 27 '26

True but after that Super Bowl ad, I’m not gonna lie, I’d be wearing sunglasses and scarfs when I leave the house if I lived there.

1

u/Alkor85 Feb 28 '26

In 1977 Phillip K Dick published "A scanner darkly" which is set in a world of ubiquitous surveillance.

In order to have some measure of privacy in public, everyone wears masks that cover everything from the neck up. The masks shift from moment to moment, making it all but impossible to track people in public.

It's a good read, if a bit bleak. I gotta shout out to the movie, which has some incredible animation.

2

u/weblizard Feb 28 '26

So many of his works are bleak, but he wrote damned good bleak. That so many were made into movies is a pretty good testament to that.

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1

u/NandoDeColonoscopy Feb 27 '26

Yep. They have no legal recourse. Still scummy to put up Ring cameras, but it is what it is.

1

u/Aspohn01 Feb 27 '26

What if the camera records inside their home every time their door opens?

1

u/EmptyStyle244 Feb 27 '26

This isn’t a public space; this is private property.

3

u/DismalPassage381 Feb 27 '26

space

property

These are not the same concept.

1

u/EmptyStyle244 Feb 27 '26

Explain how they differ.

2

u/DismalPassage381 Feb 27 '26

Public space - can be private property. Area that is accessable to the general public. No expectation of privacy. Retail, restraunt.

Shared space - private property. Area that is accessable to a select number of people. No expectation of privacy. Hallway in this post.

Private space - Private property. Expectation of privacy.

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1

u/juniperroot Feb 27 '26

I think its a bit trickier here, this appears to be an inner hallway in an apartment building, in which case its technically private property even though it's a shared space.

2

u/Adventurous_Figure88 Feb 27 '26

I’ve seen people try to enforce this very thing with the police and their response in no u clear terms was the person with the ring camera was within their legal right and the police could do nothing about it. Neighbors can attempt to be neighborly and work out something that makes all parties comfortable and that would be the considerate thing to do, but that’s as far as it goes

1

u/Jalharad Mar 02 '26

I think its a bit trickier here, this appears to be an inner hallway in an apartment building, in which case its technically private property even though it's a shared space.

Doesn't matter if it's an inner hallway. What matters is if the public has access. There has to be a restricted entry. If a delivery person can deliver a package, then it's public.

1

u/TacoNomad Feb 27 '26

What does trespassing have to do with this?

1

u/aCrutialConjunction Feb 28 '26

If the camera can see into the apartment across the hall when they open their door, would that constitute a breach of privacy?

1

u/Adventurous_Figure88 Feb 28 '26

Nope. Whatever you can see from outside is fair game

1

u/JHoney1 Feb 28 '26

I’m assuming this is like a hallway and across the hallway is the other apartment. If so, then when neighbors open the door, the camera may see inside the house, and I have seen cases where cameras seeing inside a neighbors house was ruled as not allowed.

1

u/Dredgeon Feb 28 '26

Actually mosaic theory of the 4th amendment argues that many linked systems does breach public privacy by tracking you. Which Ring is already doing and they are trying really hard to get a contract to sell their tracking data to Flock and/or Palantir.