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Comment by libria | Hacker News Reader

A US law is shaped by what we think is

1) acceptable behavior

2) enforceable, practically

I think video recording laws are largely influenced by 2).

I can angle my Ring camera to my smoking hot neighbor so I can record her doing yardwork. Creepy AF (breaks rule 1) but at what angle is it not obviously deliberate? Turned 10 degrees toward her lawn? 30?

Point being, I think US recording laws are too liberal but we need a defineable limit for privacy.

Maybe photon distance? Capturing photons traveling further than 30m into the aperture is invasive? (half kidding)

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A physical mask that blocks the view to the hot neighbour, but not to your areas of interest would give them some reassurance.

What about the satellites mimicking God watching over everyone?

I am not really fine with with them, but that's another can of worms.

Ok, but what if I am trying to monitor my driveway where I park my vehicle but the hot neighbor's flowers are in the same line of sight just beyond my parking space? It's not always feasible to block a portion of the view without blocking the entire reason for having the camera in the first place.

I think a German court would ask in such cases which has more weight: a) your interest in security, or b) your neighbour's interest in privacy. I think the default is b), but there are cases where a) has more weight, for example if your house was already broken into and you can reasonably explain why this exact angle is crucial for your security. Just catching some flowers in the picture does not make a strong case for b).

From the street photography articles I've read; if you can see it from a public space then its fair game, which I think is reasonable. But in your scenario the camera is on your private home, so most people would expect reasonable privacy from being recorded.

Yes, if it's in public it's fair game thanks to the 1st amendment.

The nextdoor homeowner probably has a right to setup a tripod, a laser pointer (or a similar bright spot light) and point it directly at the neighbor's Ring camera iris.

> I can angle my Ring camera to my smoking hot neighbor so I can record her doing yardwork

Probably too late to add that this was a hypothetical, but I'm glad the voting on this indicates how much we despise what's legally allowed.

i would ask my nieghbour if they care about it or not, perhaps make a guest feed if they are agreeable to mutual camera coverage, let them have some opportunity to see what is on camera and where it points

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