Privacy In The Common Areas - -
Security Cameras vs. Right of Privacy I rent a unit and live in a medium sized apartment building for seniors in the Iowa area. Recently, a few strangers have been found lurking the hallways of the building, some have even aid they are checking a KEY into the doors to see if it will open the door of any apartment - and that's damn scary. An extended family member who also lives i my building says his key actually fits another apartments door.
One of my apt friends who lives on another floor has said he has caught a women in his apartment when he woke up, and now is very nervous about the possibility of other break-ins which makes me wonder why more people want to install a security camera inside their unit, or simply attach it to their door, facing the hallway. The cameras could capture the space between my door and all the way down to the elevator or just pointed in the same direction to see the view similar to the view I see out my peep hole now. Every door has a peep hole in it. One time my landlord had asked a guest to stay with her while she knocked on the door. Man that was really crazy, cause he wasn't even a tenant - so its like hes there making my business with my landlord his business and that ain't right, all because the landlord didn't consider my privacy at all.
Installing the camera down on the door footer board that's attached to my apartment dwelling and facing at an angle to not catch the inside of the neighbors apartments is perfect. As it is even better than the peep hole which looks directly into the neighbors apartment when they open their door.
The Management Company tells me my neighbor has complete control over the camera’s footage. Some people would believe it is a violation of the other tenants privacy rights because it would show all information of say their family’s whereabouts and activity in the common area of the hallway. But do they really have any privacy rights in the common hallway?
In general, a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy within their residence, but individuals living in apartment units can only assert their privacy rights within their units and not in common areas within the building, such as the hallways. The fact that the camera captures your comings and goings is likely not enough to elevate into a breach of anyone's right to privacy. And a tenant appears to be taking reasonable steps to monitor the hallways outside their door and to prevent strangers from lurking there if they are doing so. And that is reasonable...
The very word “secrecy” is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. … For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence–on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. (read it here !)
IOWA CODE - -
We have no video Video Voyeurism laws in iowa but I would guess you would have some reasonable expectation of privacy?
However, you're correct in that there's unfortunately no state constitutional right to privacy in Iowa that he would be directly violating through the use of surveillance cameras. Any person, having no right or authority to do so, who taps into or connects a listening or recording device to any telephone or other communication wire (TO LISTEN OR CAPTURE AUDIO), or who by any electronic or mechanical means listens to, records, or otherwise intercepts a conversation (NEVER AUDIO LISTEN OR RECORD) or communication of any kind, commits a serious misdemeanor; provided, that the sender or recipient of a message or one who is openly present and participating in or listening to a communication shall not be prohibited hereby from recording such message or communication; and further provided, that nothing herein shall restrict the use of any radio or television receiver to receive any communication transmitted by radio or wireless signal.
***Yet people can use sreen captrue video and audio , skype and wechat and all those to capture and record and listen in, and is transmitted over the internet.
IOWA CODE 727.8
ELECTRONIC AND MECHANICAL EAVESDROPPING.
Any person, having no right or authority to do so, who taps into or connects a listening or recording device to any telephone or other communication wire, or who by any electronic or mechanical means listens to, records, or otherwise intercepts a conversation or communication of any kind, commits a serious misdemeanor; provided, that the sender or recipient of a message or one who is openly present and participating in or listening to a communication shall not be prohibited hereby from recording such message or communication; and further provided, that nothing herein shall restrict the use of any radio or television receiver to receive any communication transmitted by radio or wireless signal. read more here; http://www.justanswer.com/criminal-law/3ejqn-family-live-iowa-neighbor-just-installed.html http://coolice.legis.iowa.gov/Cool-ICE/default.asp?category=billinfo&service=IowaCode&input=727.8
Having the right to see and hear what is in public and common areas is appropriate - ts public space and no expectation of privacy.
IN PUBLIC RECORDINGS and
IN COMMON AREAS
NO PROBLEM
NO REASONABLE EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY
As a single enior male with disbility limited strength and agility living alone, I do feel the need to have a security camera at home for peace of mind when I'm not home or coming home. Alarms can alert you something may be happening but a camera can show you and help convict burglars.
I have seen the meth addicts (a problem that is all over Iowa) in the alley behind the CLRK H, and many tenants here have bi-polar mental disorders, alcoholism and drug addictions and adverse effects mixing perscription drugs and alcohol are violent to men and have even tried to commit suicide.
I grew up in small town Iowa where homes and car doors never needed locked but with home invasions on the rise, and coming to my apartement one night to an unfamiliar car in my near area...I don't want a camera to stalk my neighbors but to reassure me no one is going to surprise me like what happened to me twice now.
An American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers report that states 92% of lawyers surveyed saw an increase in evidence from smartphones – text messages, emails, call histories, and even GPS location information.
Iowa law does not deter from private security cameras, but has some clauses about not installing them where people could reasonably expect privacy like a bathroom or locker room.
For maximal deterrence, place the monitors that display your security camera in the front of a building. If people can see the live security camera they’ll be less likely to attempt a crime for fear of the condemning proof they’ll leave behind them. And even allowing the monitor to be viewed easily by a tenant or guest, and not hide it behind a receptionist’s desk or in a security guard’s booth as it is a real deterent to see it is on and properly working.
Be sure the cameras are out in plane view as well. As this clearly shows people it is there and probably in use. Most wont or dont record sound on purpose, but many people just have them on to view and see what is going on near their property or doors or on their porperty.
Even when not mandated by law, posting surveillance camera signs is often a good idea; conspicuousnotice of surveillance can magnify a camera’s deterrent effect, making it less likely that individuals will engage in criminal behavior, and since signs clearly mark a public or semi-public area as under surveillance, individuals will be less likely to expect privacy.
Iowa's crime of invasion of privacy prohibits the recording of any private place, where a person would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, without their consent for the purpose of "arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of any person."
IA Stat. § 709.21
Such as dressing rooms, locker rooms, bathrooms, bedrooms, changing roms, etc, etc.
I'm not a lawyer and my comment doesn't replace talking to one.
Security Cameras vs. Right of Privacy I rent a unit and live in a medium sized apartment building for seniors in the Iowa area. Recently, a few strangers have been found lurking the hallways of the building, some have even aid they are checking a KEY into the doors to see if it will open the door of any apartment - and that's damn scary. An extended family member who also lives i my building says his key actually fits another apartments door.
One of my apt friends who lives on another floor has said he has caught a women in his apartment when he woke up, and now is very nervous about the possibility of other break-ins which makes me wonder why more people want to install a security camera inside their unit, or simply attach it to their door, facing the hallway. The cameras could capture the space between my door and all the way down to the elevator or just pointed in the same direction to see the view similar to the view I see out my peep hole now. Every door has a peep hole in it. One time my landlord had asked a guest to stay with her while she knocked on the door. Man that was really crazy, cause he wasn't even a tenant - so its like hes there making my business with my landlord his business and that ain't right, all because the landlord didn't consider my privacy at all.
Installing the camera down on the door footer board that's attached to my apartment dwelling and facing at an angle to not catch the inside of the neighbors apartments is perfect. As it is even better than the peep hole which looks directly into the neighbors apartment when they open their door.
The Management Company tells me my neighbor has complete control over the camera’s footage. Some people would believe it is a violation of the other tenants privacy rights because it would show all information of say their family’s whereabouts and activity in the common area of the hallway. But do they really have any privacy rights in the common hallway?
In general, a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy within their residence, but individuals living in apartment units can only assert their privacy rights within their units and not in common areas within the building, such as the hallways. The fact that the camera captures your comings and goings is likely not enough to elevate into a breach of anyone's right to privacy. And a tenant appears to be taking reasonable steps to monitor the hallways outside their door and to prevent strangers from lurking there if they are doing so. And that is reasonable...
The very word “secrecy” is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. … For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence–on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. (read it here !)
IOWA CODE - -
We have no video Video Voyeurism laws in iowa but I would guess you would have some reasonable expectation of privacy?
However, you're correct in that there's unfortunately no state constitutional right to privacy in Iowa that he would be directly violating through the use of surveillance cameras. Any person, having no right or authority to do so, who taps into or connects a listening or recording device to any telephone or other communication wire (TO LISTEN OR CAPTURE AUDIO), or who by any electronic or mechanical means listens to, records, or otherwise intercepts a conversation (NEVER AUDIO LISTEN OR RECORD) or communication of any kind, commits a serious misdemeanor; provided, that the sender or recipient of a message or one who is openly present and participating in or listening to a communication shall not be prohibited hereby from recording such message or communication; and further provided, that nothing herein shall restrict the use of any radio or television receiver to receive any communication transmitted by radio or wireless signal.
***Yet people can use sreen captrue video and audio , skype and wechat and all those to capture and record and listen in, and is transmitted over the internet.
IOWA CODE 727.8
ELECTRONIC AND MECHANICAL EAVESDROPPING.
Any person, having no right or authority to do so, who taps into or connects a listening or recording device to any telephone or other communication wire, or who by any electronic or mechanical means listens to, records, or otherwise intercepts a conversation or communication of any kind, commits a serious misdemeanor; provided, that the sender or recipient of a message or one who is openly present and participating in or listening to a communication shall not be prohibited hereby from recording such message or communication; and further provided, that nothing herein shall restrict the use of any radio or television receiver to receive any communication transmitted by radio or wireless signal. read more here; http://www.justanswer.com/criminal-law/3ejqn-family-live-iowa-neighbor-just-installed.html http://coolice.legis.iowa.gov/Cool-ICE/default.asp?category=billinfo&service=IowaCode&input=727.8
Having the right to see and hear what is in public and common areas is appropriate - ts public space and no expectation of privacy.
IN PUBLIC RECORDINGS and
IN COMMON AREAS
NO PROBLEM
NO REASONABLE EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY
As a single enior male with disbility limited strength and agility living alone, I do feel the need to have a security camera at home for peace of mind when I'm not home or coming home. Alarms can alert you something may be happening but a camera can show you and help convict burglars.
I have seen the meth addicts (a problem that is all over Iowa) in the alley behind the CLRK H, and many tenants here have bi-polar mental disorders, alcoholism and drug addictions and adverse effects mixing perscription drugs and alcohol are violent to men and have even tried to commit suicide.
I grew up in small town Iowa where homes and car doors never needed locked but with home invasions on the rise, and coming to my apartement one night to an unfamiliar car in my near area...I don't want a camera to stalk my neighbors but to reassure me no one is going to surprise me like what happened to me twice now.
An American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers report that states 92% of lawyers surveyed saw an increase in evidence from smartphones – text messages, emails, call histories, and even GPS location information.
Iowa law does not deter from private security cameras, but has some clauses about not installing them where people could reasonably expect privacy like a bathroom or locker room.
For maximal deterrence, place the monitors that display your security camera in the front of a building. If people can see the live security camera they’ll be less likely to attempt a crime for fear of the condemning proof they’ll leave behind them. And even allowing the monitor to be viewed easily by a tenant or guest, and not hide it behind a receptionist’s desk or in a security guard’s booth as it is a real deterent to see it is on and properly working.
Be sure the cameras are out in plane view as well. As this clearly shows people it is there and probably in use. Most wont or dont record sound on purpose, but many people just have them on to view and see what is going on near their property or doors or on their porperty.
Even when not mandated by law, posting surveillance camera signs is often a good idea; conspicuousnotice of surveillance can magnify a camera’s deterrent effect, making it less likely that individuals will engage in criminal behavior, and since signs clearly mark a public or semi-public area as under surveillance, individuals will be less likely to expect privacy.
Iowa's crime of invasion of privacy prohibits the recording of any private place, where a person would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, without their consent for the purpose of "arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of any person."
IA Stat. § 709.21
Such as dressing rooms, locker rooms, bathrooms, bedrooms, changing roms, etc, etc.
I'm not a lawyer and my comment doesn't replace talking to one.
