A ding-dong over a ding-dong: the potential perils of home security

Articles

14/10/2021

Could EVERY doorbell camera owner face £100,000 fine after landmark ruling” thundered a headline from yesterday’s Daily Mail.  The short answer to the question is “No”, but the question was prompted by the judgment of HHJ Melissa Clarke in Fairhurst v Woodard.

The case concerned allegations that four cameras positioned around the Defendant’s property breached the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018 (“DPA”) and the UK GDPR.  The judgment, which turns on its own facts, found that there were breaches of the DPA and regulations and judgment was consequently given in favour of the Claimant.

The case has made headlines in the press on the basis that the claim was somehow novel.  However, the ICO has offered guidance on the use of CCTV cameras in a domestic context for some time.  The guidance notes that if a homeowner has a surveillance system that captures images of people outside the boundary of the private domestic property, e.g., a neighbour’s home or a public footpath, then the provisions of the UK GDPR and DPA will apply.

The guidance sets out a series of questions that should be considered by someone before installing a CCTV system.

  • Do I really need CCTV?
  • Are there other things I could use to protect my home, such as better lighting?
  • What is the most privacy-friendly way to set up the system?
  • What areas do I want the cameras to capture?
  • Can I position the cameras to avoid intruding on my neighbours’ property or any shared or public spaces?
  • Do I need to record the images, or is a live feed enough?
  • Has my CCTV system got an audio-recording facility? Audio recording is very privacy-intrusive. So in most cases where householders use CCTV, they should disable audio recording.

Given the publicity surrounding the judgment in Fairhurst v Woodard it would seem likely that other such claims will follow and doorbell cameras can be added to boundary walls, overhanging tree branches and loud music on the list of things over which neighbours can fall out.

Latest News & Events

What can lawyers in the Family Court take from Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse?

The report of the National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (“grooming gangs”) was published on 16th June. The Government confirmed the same day that action would be taken on each of the Audit’s 12 recommendations through introduction of legislation, police operations to…

The Dekagram: 18th June 2025

This week Sarah Prager KC joins forces with Rebecca Huxford of Stewarts to bring news of a jurisdictional challenge in which (perhaps somewhat unusually) practical and logistical factors were placed front and centre. Practical and Logistical Factors in Challenges to Jurisdiction The High Court of…

Deka Chambers Instructed in High Profile Child Protection Proceedings Involving Threshold, Privacy and Publication Issues

On 21 May 2025, Mrs Justice Theis handed down a series of judgments, decided over several months from July 2024 to May 2025, in care proceedings concerning siblings who were the subject of physical and emotional abuse perpetrated by their parents. One parent was a…

© Deka Chambers 2025

Search

Portfolio Builder

Select the expertise that you would like to download or add to the portfolio

Download    Add to portfolio   
Portfolio
Title Type CV Email

Remove All

Download


Click here to share this shortlist.
(It will expire after 30 days.)