If you own your home then you do not need permission to install CCTV cameras and equipment.

If you rent your home, you should seek written permission from your landlord before drilling any holes in their building, unless your contract gives you explicit permission to do this.

You must also be responsible for the CCTV system and the data you capture.

Government Guidelines

People do have the right to protect their home and property, and CCTV can be used as a security measure where necessary.

As a CCTV owner, responsible use of the system, and the data, is required.

Other People

You should also consider how your CCTV system affects other people, such as your neighbours.

Sometimes there can be concern when CCTV is installed near other people’s homes.

Therefore you should think about the positioning of cameras to ensure minimal intrusion i.e. are the cameras overlooking your neighbour’s gardens, windows, driveways?

Using ‘privacy masking’ in any of these situations is recommended.

Privacy masking is built into the recording software and allows you to ‘draw’ a black rectangle over the areas like neighbours windows, garden etc, so that your CCTV can never view or record those spaces.

Download our guide on setting up privacy masks

Put up a Sign

Keeping good relations with your neighbours and having transparency about your use of CCTV recording equipment, by letting them know about your CCTV system or putting up signs to state that ‘CCTV is in operation’ is recommended.

And if your equipment records a public space you must comply with the GDPR / UK data protection rules.

GDPR / Data Protection

If your CCTV records a public space, e.g. the path or road in front of your house then you must put up a ‘CCTV in operation’ sign, to keep within the data protection rules.

Under your responsibilities as a CCTV owner you must ensure that the data is:

• Only used for protecting your property and;
• it should not be stored for any longer than is necessary.

If you do record people in a public space, requests for footage can be made by individuals captured by your CCTV system.

Individuals have the right to access personal data, therefore requests for footage, verbally or in writing, must be responded to and you must provide a copy of the data within one month.

For more information on this subject please read Guidance on the use of domestic CCTV and this additional guidance from the ICO.

Get a CCTV quote for your home

This document does not constitute any form of legal advice, and should not be relied on or treated as a substitute for legal advice. Always consult the official government websites for up to date and accurate information.