r/mildlyinfuriating • u/violet_evergarden8 • 12h ago

Don't hug me I'm scared Neighbor across installed a camera on their railing pointed directly at my bedroom window

21.9k Upvotes

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4.7k

u/TheCitizen616 11h ago

Who cares if they can identify you? I would just target the camera from dead-centre of OP's bedroom window where the camera is pointed.

If they try to complain, make them explain why it was pointed there without them sounding like a perv.

1.5k

u/Churchill--Madarchod 11h ago

It's up to OP to decide. Why get in an unnecessary confrontation with an asshole when you can laser blast.

Else, easier to gather a bunch of folks from the society and go to the police. It's not like OP is the only one in the view of the camera.

348

u/IgnatiusRileyFreeman 9h ago

Why bother going to the police if you're already gathering a mob? Show up at that guy's front door with your concerned members of the communitu

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u/CookWho 7h ago

So you bring the pitchforks and I bring the fire okay

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u/MerMadeMeDoIt 7h ago

Don't forget the tar and feathers!

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u/Frammingatthejimjam 4h ago

And the hawks and the pellet guns!

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u/Big-Active3139 6h ago

I want to live in your apartment complex, I mean community

1

u/AccusingGojo 1h ago

I give you permission to live in their apartment

1

u/AccusingGojo 1h ago

I give you permission to live in their apartment

3

u/Squidking1000 6h ago

Pillowcase full of door knobs also works to change minds.

3

u/DenverBowie 6h ago

But you gotta supply your own knobs!

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u/Suspicious-Garbage92 6h ago

Now this is something I can get behind!

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy 3h ago

Holy Reddit larp

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u/IgnatiusRileyFreeman 3h ago

Child who learned the word larp last month, and doesn't know what a joke is:

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy 3h ago

Larp

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u/IgnatiusRileyFreeman 2h ago

It isn't even live action, it's through text

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u/NathenStrive 7h ago

I'd call this confrontation necessary

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u/jekket 9h ago

it's not easier to gather grown ass people with lives and jobs to go and report the perv with a camera with near zero chances that police do something about it. Screw his camera and make him do the job of explaining the police why would he need a camera on his balcony

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u/Churchill--Madarchod 8h ago

That's why the laser suggestion.

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u/Broken-Digital-Clock 3h ago

Laser from the roof makes the most sense.

-3

u/popcorn_mix 7h ago

How do we know if the laser worked? Dance naked in front of the camera and measure neighbors reaction?

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u/Derpy-pilot 7h ago

If the laser worked he'll probably replace it

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u/Churchill--Madarchod 7h ago

You wouldn't say that if your knew what lasers do to camera lens.

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u/popcorn_mix 5h ago

You can't stop me from dancing naked.

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u/NorthernVale 1h ago

Damn. You right. Well, if you can't beat 'em...

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u/communistkangu 1h ago

It does nothing to the lense, it kills the sensor.

0

u/mcrss 3h ago

Lasers do nothing to camera lens

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u/jekket 3h ago

it kills ccd matrix

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u/Omnom_Omnath 7h ago

so becasue some random redditor calls them a perv then that must be the true facts? lol, lmao even. remember the boston bomber?

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u/Elegant_Situation285 10h ago

"it's okay guys, he's peeping on EVERYONE. it's not personal or weird or anything."

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u/devisi0n 5h ago

I don't think that's what they meant. More like other people will also have a reason to complain about this camera if they knew about it.

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u/Warm_Imagination3768 4h ago

The Flock defense

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u/Erick_Brimstone 11h ago

Even if OP isn't in the line of sight of it they can still figure out who did it. I mean is there other people would do it other than the target? Unless OP is being recorded and someone break it then it doesn't matter as they can figure it out. 

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u/Competitive-Bee-3250 11h ago

Yeah but they wont be able to prove it

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u/cheapdrinks 8h ago

and what are they going to say, "it must be her because the camera is only pointed at her bedroom window and no one else's" 😂

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u/cykoTom3 4h ago

Yes. It is perfectly legal to point a camera out of your own house in a great many places. There are places that will literally arrest you for indecency for being naked in your own bedroom with the windows open.

The legality of the creep is questionable. However the legality of destroying someone elses property is not questionable. It's illegal. He could sue you for damages, and maybe (probably not) file legal charges.

So why let him? If he can't prove it, he can't do that stuff.

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u/pieter1234569 4h ago

It’s not legal at all to film a private residence except your own.

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u/cykoTom3 3h ago

In many places anything visible from your property is something you are allowed to record.

-29

u/Erick_Brimstone 10h ago

I don't think someone like that need "prove" to do anything.

If anything it's OP that need alibi that they're not the one who did it.

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u/Competitive-Bee-3250 10h ago

Alibis are helpful, but a court case wont go anywhere without evidence.

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u/Elegant_Situation285 10h ago

i think we're going to need to call in the FBI and get the tech team. /s

lol...cops wouldn't care about this.

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u/Competitive-Bee-3250 10h ago

Cops wouldnt, but the court would. Especially since this would probably at best reach civil court. The judge would just tell the plaintiff to prove it was them and not some kid.

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u/Academic_Flatworm752 5h ago

lol this wouldn’t reach the threshold of a civil suit. The damages would be like $100. Those cameras aren’t expensive

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u/Elegant_Situation285 10h ago

and the evidence would be where?

from the roof you could blind the camera without being on the footage. i know civil cases have a more lax requirement of evidence, but there's still a requirement.

"no your honor, i have no idea what he's talking about"

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u/Competitive-Bee-3250 10h ago

I mean yeah thats exactly my point tho.

If you lasered your neighbours camera and tbey didnt catch you on camera, and they sought legal retribution for it the cops wouldnt even get involved, you'd get a legal summons and the case would probably get thrown out because the neighbour cant provide any evidence that you lasered their camera.

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u/wtfduud 6h ago

Plausible deniability.

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u/Jor94 8h ago

Because some people do things because they think you won’t complain. If they do it anonymously then they might just get a new camera and put it up again. If they know you’ve caught them then they’re less likely to continue.

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u/AlarmingYak7956 8h ago

Wait, you are gullible enough to believe the police would actually do something?

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u/Peter5930 7h ago

Personally, I would prefer it spark a confrontation in which the neighbour is required to explain why it was pointed at the bedroom window, if it were to happen to me.

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u/truemad 7h ago

It's about sending a message

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u/BaphometsTits 6h ago

Why ____________ when you can laser blast.

This works for almost any situation really.

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u/RegulateTheCake 4h ago

Yeah, they installed similar cameras at my work the other day. They move. They can definitely see more than OP.

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u/JPWRana 7h ago

How does laser blast work?

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u/Churchill--Madarchod 7h ago

Damages the lens. DON'T EVER TRY WITH YOUR PHONE. NEVER point your phone camera at lasers at a music festival or anywhere else.

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u/AlkaiserSoze 6h ago

Sorry. I couldn't help myself.

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u/DeltaRipper 3h ago

Unnecessary confrontation…

From across the street? From a dude who doesn’t live in your building, let alone know which unit you’re in?

yeaaaahhhhhhh

1

u/Pain4420 3h ago

The problem is that this camera is likely breaking no laws so getting the police involved won't do anything

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u/Industrial_Rivethead 3h ago

I don't want to sound like an armchair tough guy BUT confrontation is sometimes necessary because that's the only way some people learn to not fuck with you. This warrants confrontation.

There are people who love violating boundaries and those people need to be confronted, not dealt with passive aggressively.

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u/EnglishKen421 10h ago

It's up to OP to decide

No shit.

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u/Omnom_Omnath 7h ago

The neighbor isnt doing anything illegal.

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u/Churchill--Madarchod 7h ago

Me playing with my laser is also nothing illegal, fyi.

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u/nsfwuseraccnt 5h ago

If this is in the USA there's nothing the police can do. They will tell you to get lost.

You are allowed to take video of anything that can be seen in public. If your neighbor can see it from their balcony, they can legally take a video of it.

Also, the camera appears to be pointed below and to the left of where OP is standing in the video. Security cameras usually have wide fields of view, though some do have zoom. But I doubt the neighbor is specifically spying on OP. OP should simply close their blinds if they are worried.

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u/Chil_Holiday_Man 8h ago

You're assuming this person is an asshole, but they could just be an ignorant idiot. They might have had to install the camera there because there are existing electrical wires. OP's neighbor could very well be an old lady, ffs.

A lot of the time, these things are resolved by confronting your neighbour politely.

Unfortunately, Redditoers are friendless social outcasts and don't know how to interact with people around them. You don't have to resort to insane measures right away ffs.

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u/TheRoomButGay 8h ago

He says, while also being a "Redditoer."

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u/Churchill--Madarchod 8h ago

Pray tell me sir, what kind of ignorant idiot spies on someone's bedroom without having negative intentions?

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u/Chil_Holiday_Man 7h ago

Did you read my comment, "sir"?

It's obviously placed in that exact location because of existing wiring. And if it were placed anywhere else, it would probably spy on one of the other neighbours.

You’d be surprised how oblivious some people can be. It might not even occur to them that they’re looking into a neighbor’s home, especially if reflections or tint on the window make it impossible to see inside.

I’m just giving examples, but all we can do is assume. Either way, politely confronting the neighbor should resolve the issue, and if they truly are being difficult, a trip to the police station could take care of it.

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u/sirhackenslash 7h ago

But, like, why do they need a camera on high balcony pointed at a building across the street at all? I could see if it was pointed at their own railing to look at birds or whatever, but pointed out across the way is only to either spy on another apartment or to get candid pics of Spiderman

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u/deadlyspoons 9h ago

A determined asshole would replace it with something less conspicuous if he recorded someone lasering it.

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u/JeebusChristBalls 7h ago

Yeah, if it wasn't specifically pointed at OPs window, a laser wouldn't do much. There is no legitimate reason why a 3rd floor balcony needs a camera pointed upward.

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u/cykoTom3 4h ago

The legality of pointing a camera out of your own house wherever you want is gonna vary wildly from place to place. The legality of deliberately destroying other people's property does not.

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u/[deleted] 11h ago

[deleted]

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u/Actual-City-7241 11h ago

In my country it very much is illegal to have a camera pointing at other people's windows.

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u/SunsetCarcass 10h ago

The ring camera on my front door happens to point directly towards the neighbor across the streets window, and can even see the windows from down the street through the camera cause it's wide angle lens. Really hard to avoid having cameras point at other houses windows. When many houses have windows on all sides especially the front of the house. Cameras would be illegal pretty much everywhere

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u/No-Cat9412 10h ago

"Cameras would be illegal pretty much everywhere"

Just imagine not living in a surveillance state. How awful.

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u/justycat 10h ago

That would be illegal in the EU. If your camera also covers public areas (not to mention other people’s homes) then the «household-exception» to GDPR does not apply. And that means your set up and use of the camera would need to comply with GDPR, including having a legal basis for processing of personal information.

This would be hard to accomplish if your camera covered the street outside. And very hard (to impossible) to accomplish if your camera covers other people’s homes (especially if it includes seeing through windows).

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u/Escritortoise 10h ago

It could constitute a violation of a reasonable expectation of privacy. There’s a reasonable use and expectation for a ring doorbell camera to face away from your door, similarly to how a peephole would work. It’s also reasonable that a front door facing another home would have that vantage point, or that people frequently walk along in front of those doors.

It would be less reasonable to suggest there were any reason for the vantage point of the corner of a balcony railing to face across an open space not commonly used for foot traffic, delivery of goods and services, or ingress and egress to be normal or necessary.

Using binoculars to look into private spaces is often illegal due to peeping tom laws, although living areas are often exempt. I’m also only going according to my local states laws, but recording a private space is also much different than recording in public.

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u/CaleanKnight 10h ago

There is a huge fucking difference between a camera that has a purpose that just so happens to point at something and a camera with the sole purpose of watching into a bedroom...

That's like a Room temperature IQ conclusion...

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u/SunsetCarcass 7h ago

Bro could be looking for birds

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u/CaleanKnight 4h ago

Inside a Bedroom?

Methinks you need your harddrive checked, Sir.

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u/SunsetCarcass 2h ago

Is there not the outside world between the bedroom and the other person camera?

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u/sirhackenslash 7h ago

A ring camera or doorbell on a home for security is vastly different than a camera multiple stories high pointing directly at another building. What do they need to record from up there? Nobody is going to climb the building and break in through their balcony

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u/TriggerFish1965 11h ago

It's very illegal here to point cameras on other persons property

-3

u/SunsetCarcass 10h ago

Where do you live? Cause doorbell cameras would be illegal almost everywhere in the US if you live in any neighborhood and have a neighbor across the street.

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u/TriggerFish1965 9h ago

Europe. And they are officially illegal beyond your personal space.

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u/Bdr1983 10h ago

I don't know where you are, but in many countries it is very much illegal to point a camera at other people's property. You can have something that films your own door, or window, and if that covers a part of someone elses house, that is usually not a problem.

This situation, however, is clearly a camera pointed at someone elses window, which is very much illegal.

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u/Interesting-Yellow-4 11h ago

Yeah, it is. It's a lot illegal.

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u/Solivigant96 11h ago

Maybe in murica, in my country it 100% is.. it can't even show the public road.

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u/Due_Comparison_2467 10h ago

In this case, it would be illegal. There’s no reason for them to have a security camera on the balcony that high up and then point it across the street to a neighbor.

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u/Scared_Spyduck 11h ago

American privacy laws 💫

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u/davorocks67 10h ago

Not really clear what country it is, but certainly in our country it's illegal to have a camera pointed into another person's yard. I have cameras out the front on the street, which basically just show video of my cars, as we've had a few idiot people parking and running into the side of them and so on. I've had the cops out here twice, as people have complained. I've quickly shown them what the cameras are pointed at on my phone. Obviously, no chance to adjust it, so it's clearly what has been reported, and they've wished me a good day and left. They did make it quite clear that it couldn't go into someone's private property.

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u/Falkenmond79 10h ago

In my country you can’t even have a ring camera pointed at public roads. Your only allowed to film your own property. Enforcement is a bit lackluster of course.

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u/ListenJerry 7h ago

This seem like a good opportunity to get real squirrely

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u/GirthyRedEggplant 6h ago

Get naked in your bedroom, laser camera into oblivion. Gonna be real awkward to use that as proof.

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u/Mundane-Ad-3237 5h ago

Just get naked first. Make everyone look at your balls while they argue with you

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u/sayiansaga 5h ago

No it's too much of a hassle to argue with them. You'd think they'd have some sort of shame but they don't. Don't engage go to the rooftop.

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u/Pain4420 3h ago

The problem is they will sound like a perv and you will have charges. After that they will still have the camera there (one you probably had to pay for) and you will have less money and a criminal charge

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u/Alarming-Stretch-788 3h ago

Probably because it's illegal...

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u/NocturneSapphire 7h ago

The camera likely isn't illegal (unfortunately). But aiming a laser pointer directly at the camera for an extended period could be considered destruction of property. And the camera will have footage of you doing so. If you do it from your own window, you might actually get in trouble.

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u/DiscotopiaACNH 3h ago

What if you shined a laser and a flashlight at the same time so any video evidence would just show a bright light

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u/Shot-Arugula8264 4h ago

“Because it’s my property and I’m legally allowed to. Now would you like to explain why you just admitted to criminal vandalism?”

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u/Omnom_Omnath 7h ago

destroying others property because of a perceived slight is fucking insane psycho behavior. for all we know the neighbor is bird watching

-3

u/Bascome 9h ago

There is a bird nest under your window.

What do you do when that or something else reasonable is the answer?

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u/flannel_jesus 9h ago

Why would you point a camera like that at a bird nest?

-4

u/Bascome 8h ago

I wouldn't but, rare bird, science, etc.

The point is violence and ignorance is a bad combo.