this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2025
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A local Hamilton man has been ordered by the city to take down his security cameras that he has on the outside of his house, despite his claim that his footage has been useful in crime investigations.

Dan Myles says he has 10 security cameras outside his home on MacNab Street North in downtown Hamilton, and he says he needs them.

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[–] nbailey@lemmy.ca 47 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Laws like this are enforced selectively, by design. If they were serious about privacy, they’d be issuing citations to everybody with a ring doorbell. Not just because the videos always face public areas, but because the recordings are stored insecurely on US datacentres.

[–] vorpuni@jlai.lu 22 points 1 week ago

And Tesla cars would be illegal to operate…

[–] Alloi@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

if they cared about that, then they wouldnt be leaving doors wide open to citizen private data, specifically for the US government, in the strong borders act. bill C2.

it demands ISPs hold internet search history for 6 years, gives access to your data to police and government agencies, without warrant. and also has a little section where they essentially give massive access of your digital fingerprint to the united states government, who will likely use private corps like palantir to profile you for god knows what. but likely for some thought crime, minority report shit but for anyone not white, christian, and conservative.

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Absolute bullshit, even on the privacy front.

There is no expectation of privacy in public spaces, and the fact that the "executive director" of Global Privacy and Security gets this wrong is highly disappointing. That said, the "latest news & events" on the Global Privacy and Security site is dated back to 2019... so there's that.

And much of the footage shown in the report are people trying to steal shit or break into vehicles around this guy's property!

Also, if this guy is forced to remove those cameras, what about dashcams and cameras on businesses pointing to public areas? Cameras on banks or at police stations? Traffic cameras? Weather cameras? Will they all be ordered to remove them?

Of course not, because this is fucking stupid.

I have cameras, and they've been used to help police several times. FFS, you can even register your home cameras with police!

Someone complained, and the city needed to respond. He should just ignore the order, which would be impossible to enforce without affecting every homeowner, driver, and business with a camera.

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 week ago

I agree that there is no expectation of privacy in public. This can quickly stampede into people taking pictures or video, in a public park or something that is now illegal to take, simply because of shit like this.

If you're in a publicly accessible space, or where I can see you from a publicity accessible space, there's no reasonable expectation of privacy.

This really isn't any different than him sitting there and watching from his window, it's just recorded.

Fucking Hamilton man.

[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

regarding the first point, to be fair, there is an expectation of privacy in your own home (and maybe on your own property), which cameras like this could violate

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Not if you are in plain public view

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Cameras cannot point into your windows. and no audio is legal without consent.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 days ago

This guys cameras show the street but they aren't pointed in Windows, if they want to enforce this they have to have every Ring doorbell can removed, because those typically point directly across the street. I totally agree on the audio part

[–] ieGod@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Can the city do that? I'd just ignore their request.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

These laws are the result of compounds setup by biker clubs in which they used cameras to see police raids coming.

[–] NarrativeBear@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Instructions unclear, sitting on the porche with camcorder pointed at the street.

[–] hddsx@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] NarrativeBear@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

One Porsche Please

[–] notarobot@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 week ago

It doesn't say request. It says "orders"

[–] twice_hatch@midwest.social 10 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

I agree in principle, though they should 100% go after Ring cameras and Teslas first.

Cameras operated by the homeowner, with the video stored on site and not in the cloud, are fine by me. I have some.

Don't let those Flock fuckheads into your country: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flock_Safety

[–] nik282000@lemmy.ca 3 points 6 days ago

Dickhead in TFA was posting videos of his neighbours, thats what lead to complaints and the city getting involved.

[–] twopi@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] nik282000@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 days ago

The guy was posting videos from is his excessive number of cameras online and playing pretend police of his neighbourhood. That's why the city got involved.

[–] Bebopalouie@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Note to self:

In future recess when installing all outdoor cams as to make them harder to spot.

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 week ago (3 children)

No, because thieves who aren't total idiots will move on when they see a camera.

One of the issues brought in the video is that people are unaware of the cameras (bullshit) and unable to consent to being photographed (also bullshit, since there is no expectation of privacy when out in public).

[–] Bebopalouie@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yes. Further update. Put up fake ones to scare away potential thieves as well.

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yes, I've seen those. They even have fake ones with lights. LOL

But real ones can really help if some nonsense happens on your street.

[–] Bebopalouie@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

Both. Hide real ones, leave out fake ones to be seen.

[–] Bea@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

No, because thieves who aren’t total idiots will move on when they see a camera.

If that were true, we wouldn't be seeing a constant stream of camera footage of porch pirates on news channels, media outlets and social media. The reality is that opportunistic thieves don't care anymore. Policing doesn't focus on protecting average citizens from property crimes, it's a complete afterthought.

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Those are the idiots! 😀

But you're right, police aren't / can't protect people against these crimes. The afterthought does benefit from camera footage, though.

[–] nik282000@lemmy.ca 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Police wont look for your stolen car even if you have a 4k video of the theft and a GPS tracker in the car.

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 days ago

Yeah, but video is still helpful. I helped a neighbour whose car was scratched, and it turned out another neighbour ran into them and fled. LOL 🤭

[–] JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

In my experience they don't give a rat's ass about cameras. Mostly because the cops don't give a rat's ass about the footage either.

[–] tehWrapper@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This looks like a rental unit with all the numbers on the mailboxes. Might be stalking other tenants?

[–] nik282000@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 days ago

He was posting videos online and playing neighbourhood police.