Security cameras are key to protecting homes and businesses.
Even if you’re a homeowner with a firearm available, security cameras act as the first line of defense against intruders or malicious criminals. Plus, they can aid police in tracking down those criminals if they happen to get in and out of your home undeterred.
However, there’s a bit of an issue that you must consider when installing security cameras: Privacy.
Whether you’re a home or business owner looking to protect your property, you also must consider the privacy of your family members, guests, or customers and employees whenever you have security systems installed.
Otherwise, you can be just as much of a menace as the people you’re trying to protect yourself from.
Let’s go over some security camera installation tips to keep that from happening to you.
The Don’ts of Home Security
When you install cameras in and around your home, everyone who comes to visit or walks through your property ends up getting filmed.
This isn’t a problem in most cases, but some honest mistakes or overzealous decisions may end up invading the privacy of your family, guests, and potentially neighbors.
Private Areas:
For obvious reasons, camera systems should never be installed in parts of your home where people reasonably expect 100% privacy.
In other words, if people normally disrobe, relieve themselves, or do something else highly personal in a room, you should not have a camera in that room or angled in any way that may peek inside.
For the most part, this means bathrooms and bedrooms are off-limits.
Inappropriate Outdoor Placement:
Your neighbors are entitled to their privacy, too. Sure, they probably won’t mind if your outdoor cameras happen to capture their front door, and that may come in handy if they’re ever the victims of a crime.
However, it is important to ensure that your cameras protect their privacy. Your cameras should not be aimed in a direction that may record activity through their windows, behind their privacy fences, and other areas that are completely avoidable without sacrificing your own home security.
Solutions for Home Security Blind Spots
Obviously, following these simple guidelines will leave your home with a couple of blind spots. Criminals do frequently break through bedroom windows, and bathrooms are prime targets for peeping toms and other creeps.
Luckily, you can still protect those areas.
First, consider motion-activated alarm systems. These non-camera devices can be set to trip if someone enters through a window, and this can alert you or the police to an intrusion without having to put a camera in private locations.
Also, consider angling outdoor cameras to capture activity in front of such areas without capturing activity through the windows. This will let you see potential intruders, but it won’t invade anyone’s privacy.
To solve the issues about your neighbors’ privacy, it’s just a matter of angling your cameras properly. A professional security installer can ensure this is done during the installation process.
Commercial Security Cameras
The dos and don’ts for the commercial sector are largely the same.
Bathrooms, changing rooms, and other places that require true privacy should not be exposed to cameras in any way.
However, you don’t have to worry about any neighbors considering zoning laws likely won’t put any residential homes within view of your cameras.
The solutions to blind spots are also mostly the same too.
You can use clever camera angles to record entrances to private rooms without compromising the privacy of your employees and customers, or you can use motion devices in some cases.
However, you also have the advantage of staff members at your disposal. Consider requiring customers to get a key before utilizing the restroom, or have employees monitor the entrances to changing rooms and other areas thieves often try to use to their advantage.
This protects good-natured customers and can ensure that any bad apples are identified.
Get a Professional’s Opinion
These simple tips can be performed on your own, but it still helps to hire a professional who specializes in security installations.
This way you can gain more than just help with security cameras. These industry-experienced professionals often have access to the best security measures available, and they know the perfect way to use them cost-effectively and functionally.
With security being such an important aspect of both the residential and commercial sectors, it’s worth considering a professional to handle it.