Having a camera in your house is quite common nowadays. We're talking about security cameras, of course. In fact, as SafeHome reports, almost 75 million American households own either an indoor or an outdoor security camera. However, some people discover cameras in their homes that they definitely didn't put there.
That is what happened to a new mother who was taking care of her 4-month-old daughter and her 1-year-old nephew. She found a hidden camera behind her TV and had reason to believe that her nephew's mom had installed it. She wasn't sure whether to confront her SIL, so she asked for opinions online.
Having a security camera in your house is the new norm, but it's not normal for someone else to install one in your home without your knowledge
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
This mom found a hidden camera behind her TV and suspected it might be her SIL's doing
Image credits: shurkin_son / freepik (not the actual photo)
Image credits: ThrowRA-dsbiii21
If the mom were a nanny in the SIL's home, they could record her, but this is a gross invasion of privacy
It's wild to expect someone to be okay with being secretly recorded in the privacy of their home. Few things are probably as unsettling as being watched in your own home without your consent. And while it may be understandable that a mother wants to make sure that her child is properly cared for by someone else, spying on them is never a good idea.
Commenters urged the mom to look into the legality of this matter for a reason. If she were a nanny babysitting for her SIL in her brother's home, there's nothing she could do against a nanny cam. However, as she's in her own home, the rules are completely different.
In the U.S., parents can record their nannies with cameras in the family's home. However, cameras can only be placed in shared spaces: the kitchen, the living room, the playroom, etc. Naturally, rooms like the bathroom or the nanny's private bedroom are off-limits.
It's also illegal to record audio – that's when the parents would need to inform the nanny that she is being recorded. Otherwise, if they wanted to use a recording in court, it wouldn't be admissible, as recording audio is illegal in many states and requires the other party's consent.
However, in this story, the mother suspects that her SIL put a hidden camera in her home. That's all sorts of illegal, not to mention invasive. If the SIL really is the culprit here, it's hard to imagine how the families can keep in touch following this insane invasion of privacy. Even if the SIL tries to justify it with being worried about her child, trust and respect might be broken forever.
People might be relying on security cameras too much for their safety
Image credits: freepik / freepik (not the actual photo)
People want to feel safe in their homes, and security cameras can help provide that sense of safety. Yes, people choose to install security cameras to deter robbers. But even when it comes to simple home security systems, it's debatable whether cameras really are effective.
According to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, outdoor cameras have a 50% deterrence effectiveness. Even a sign that a camera is present on a property might act as a deterrent, too: signs were found to deter 25% of burglars.
However, other experts disagree. They argue that cameras are only one element in a home security system that deters robbery and other crimes. Ausma Bernot, a lecturer in technology and crime at Australia's Griffith University, says that "cameras don't have a very strong and continued trend to help with security, especially when it comes to individual homes."
According to her, deterrence for homeowners should be about making the house as unattractive to the thief as possible. "It's good to have a fence, it's good to have a dog, it's good to have any sort of device that might look like a camera, even if it's not."
Does it work the same for nanny cams? Perhaps, as some experts, like anxiety and OCD child therapist Natasha Daniels, argue, every family should have a hidden nanny cam. "Every nanny (even those that are related to you) puts on their best face when you are around," she writes. "What you see is not always what you get."
However, putting a secret nanny cam in a person's house without their knowledge is almost a surefire way to go to jail. And even if it doesn't come to that, it's almost a guarantee that those family members will never want to talk to you again.
"If she's putting nanny cams in my house they're gonna need to either pay me from now on or find someone else," the mom wrote
Commenters urged her to contact the police and get to the bottom of this: "That's a HUGE invasion of privacy"
