We must enjoy the convenience brought by technology under the norms of the law, and only in this way can we build a harmonious neighborhood relationship.
The electronic peephole integrates the functions of the peephole and the doorbell, adds the surveillance video function, and can also connect to Wi-Fi for cloud dialogue and cloud storage. In the era of the Internet of Things, electronic cat's eyes have entered the homes of thousands of residents and become one of the most common smart devices. Smart home products similar to electronic peepholes are also becoming more and more popular, with smart lights, smart curtains, and smart audio and video devices all realizing remote control with the help of built-in wireless connection devices, bringing great convenience to life.
Technology and the rule of law is a commonplace but often new topic, and the connotation and extension of this topic are very wide, and it is not exhaustive in a few words. Some smart door locks come with an electronic peephole function, which can actively detect and take pictures of people passing or lingering outside the door. The electronic camera is installed at home, which can supervise the childcare sister-in-law, and it is also convenient to check the status of the baby and toddler at any time, which greatly alleviates the anxiety of working mothers. In addition to convenience, if someone secretly installs an electronic camera in a hotel for the sake of work, it will constitute a problem at the level of illegal and criminal activities.
So, for reasons such as convenience in receiving express delivery, will the installation of electronic peepholes and smart doorbells with audio and video recording functions on the entrance door infringe on the privacy of neighbors? Recently, the Beijing Haidian District People's Court (hereinafter referred to as the Haidian Court) concluded the trial of such a case.
Former neighbors to Bo Gongtang
Mr. Li and Lao Deng are neighbors on the same floor, with one staircase and two households, and the two gates stand opposite each other, with an interval of more than 3 meters. Lao Deng and his wife are relatively old, and Mr. and Mrs. Li are a pair of young people, and they don't have many neighbors on weekdays, but they will greet each other when they meet, and they get along well.
This congenial neighborhood atmosphere turns into sabre-rattling, starting with an electronic cat's eye. Mr. Li's young couple work during the day, and it is inconvenient for no one at home to receive express packages - they are afraid of losing them at the door of the house, and it is too far to walk past them at the collection point. After thinking about it, Mr. Li took a fancy to the monitoring function of the electronic peephole, and after installing it, he could check the situation in front of his home in real time, and he was no longer afraid of losing the express package. In addition, if a stranger appears at the door, the electronic cat's eye can automatically take pictures, videos and upload them, which Mr. Li feels is also a safety guarantee for the children at home.
After Mr. Li's electronic cat's eye was installed, Lao Deng couldn't sit still on the other side. Lao Deng felt that this electronic cat's eye was a "spy"-like existence. It has been photographed on the opposite side, so what time does he and his family enter and exit the door every day, when friends visit, and other private content has been filmed. The more Lao Deng thought about it, the more blocked his heart became, and this matter was like a nail in his heart.
One day, Lao Deng finally couldn't help but discuss with Mr. Li and asked him to dismantle the electronic cat's eye. But Mr. Li refused, he thought that the electronic cat's eye was installed on his door, and Lao Deng couldn't care about it. Lao Deng went to the community property company to complain, and the property company came to discuss the demolition with Mr. Li, but Mr. Li still had an attitude: not to demolish.
In the excitement, Lao Deng called the police. The community police came to negotiate with Mr. Li for demolition, but Mr. Li insisted on not demolishing it. Lao Deng then sued Mr. Li to the court with a complaint.
Lao Deng complained to the Haidian Court that the electronic peephole installed by Mr. Li violated his right to privacy, and demanded that Mr. Li remove it and compensate him for mental damages of 5,000 yuan.
Mr. Deng said that the electronic peephole installed by Mr. Li was at the entrance of the house, seriously violating the privacy information of him and his family, and seriously affecting the mental and normal life of him and his family.
Mr. Li argued that many homes in the community have installed electronic peepholes. During the day, there is no one at home, and the installation of electronic cat's eye system is for safety considerations and worrying about the loss of express packages, which mainly uses the doorbell function and alarm function, and will remotely view and speak. The video consumption is too high, and I have never used the 24-hour recording function.
During the trial of the case, Lao Deng submitted photos of the electronic peephole, photos of the front of the two houses, and screenshots of the same electronic peephole of Mr. Li's house searched on Taobao. The screenshot shows that the electronic peephole has "intelligent face recognition", "170° ultra-wide viewing angle", "960P high-definition camera", "automatic human detection", "App+V letter dual information real-time push", "visual intercom, real-time monitoring", "mobile App remote viewing", "cloud storage" and other functions.
Mr. Li admitted that the electronic peephole he installed was the above-mentioned product, but he did not use the 24-hour video recording function, and although the electronic peephole would automatically capture photos according to its own induction, the captured photos would be automatically deleted on a regular basis. In this regard, Mr. Li submitted photos taken by the electronic cat's eye to support it.
The electronic peephole invasion of privacy was dismantled
The court found that the electronic peephole involved in the case had the function of automatically taking pictures based on its own induction, and the photos taken by the electronic peephole provided by Mr. Li could clearly show the public corridor area in front of the doors of the two households. Although the public corridor in front of the entrance of the two households is a common walkway and is shared by all the owners, because the floor is one staircase and two households, the common walkway is directly connected to the private space exclusive to the two households, that is, the residential part, and the daily passage personnel are more specific, and the purpose of the passage is easier to judge. The information on Lao Deng's daily entry and exit from the residence, including information on travelers, travel patterns, visitors' comings and goings, and other activities, is directly related to his private living habits and the safety of his family and property, and has a certain degree of privacy, and should fall within the scope of privacy protection provided by law.
The court held that the entrance doors of the two households were facing each other, and the electronic peephole installed on the door of Mr. Li's house must have included the common walkway in front of the door and the entrance door of Lao Deng's house into the scope of photography. The electronic peephole installed by Mr. Li actually constituted an invasion of Lao Deng's privacy and should be removed. With regard to Lao Deng's claim for compensation for Mr. Li's mental damages, the court did not support his claim because he did not fully adduce evidence to the court for the mental losses suffered.
The court finally ordered Mr. Li to remove the electronic peephole and rejected Lao Deng's other claims.
After the judgment of the case, Mr. Li did not appeal, and he automatically removed the electronic peephole in accordance with the court judgment.
Wang Wenjing, assistant judge of the Second Civil Trial Division (Labor Dispute Division) of the Haidian Court, said in an interview with this reporter that Article 1032 of the Civil Code of the Mainland clearly stipulates that "natural persons enjoy the right to privacy. The privacy rights of others must not be infringed upon by any organization or individual through methods such as espionage, intrusion, leakage, or disclosure. Privacy refers to the tranquility of a natural person's private life and the private space, private activities, and private information that he or she does not want others to know." The story of Lao Deng and Mr. Li answers the question at the beginning of this article. Even if you install an electronic peephole on your door, it is not arbitrary and unrestrained, it is also subject to legal constraints, and if it violates the privacy of others, it should be removed. On the contrary, if the privacy of one's own family is violated, if the negotiation cannot be resolved, you can use legal weapons to protect your legitimate rights and interests.
Wang Wenjing said that although the owner thinks that the electronic cat's eye is shooting the corridor, but for the door-to-door or the two families are very close to each other, the camera is actually facing the door of the neighbor opposite the door, or can photograph the neighbor's entry and exit of the house, not just the corridor. As long as the device records part of the interior of the neighbor's house, or the neighbor's daily entry and exit from the house, it is an invasion of the neighbor's private space and private information, which is an infringement of privacy. It is understandable for property owners to protect their own property or residential safety, but they should not infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of others beyond reasonable limits.
should be under legal norms
Enjoy the convenience of technology
Nowadays, many communities have installed monitoring probes in public places such as courtyards and elevator halls, but the monitoring of these public places is a public facility installed to protect public safety, and is not controlled by private individuals, and the shooting content will not be known to others. This is fundamentally different from privately installing equipment to shoot and obtain the privacy of neighbors.
Wang Wenjing told reporters that before installing electronic devices with audio and video recording functions at the entrance door, it is necessary to solicit the opinions of neighbors, otherwise it is not only easy to cause disputes between neighbors, but also constitute infringement in law. Therefore, only under the norms of the law can we enjoy the convenience brought by technology, and only in this way can we build a harmonious neighborhood relationship.
From the perspective of convenient life, because of the development of technology, people can now use biometric technologies such as fingerprints and faces to unlock various doors, make mobile payments, and use various social software to share their lives live. With these conveniences comes legal risk. For example, facial recognition technology is accompanied by the theft of residents' facial recognition information and the use of AI face swapping technology to carry out infringements. Another example is that the content of online live broadcasts may infringe on others' rights of portraiture, reputation, privacy, etc. The impact of technology is one and the same, and individuals should always pay attention to protecting their personal information, not infringing on the legitimate rights of others, and resort to law to protect themselves in a timely manner when their legitimate rights are infringed.
Wang Wenjing reminded that for owners who want to install electronic peepholes and smart door locks with camera functions, they should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. If the distance from the neighbor is out of the camera range and daily shooting is not possible, there is no problem with the installation. Or adjust the angle of the equipment installation to try not to photograph the privacy of the neighbors. If you can't avoid photographing your neighbors, you can communicate and negotiate with your neighbors in advance, share monitoring data or install them together, and get your neighbors' consent to install it legally. Once a dispute arises and the unauthorized installation is found to be infringing, not only the equipment will be dismantled, but also the neighborhood relationship will be affected, and the gains outweigh the losses.
(This article was originally published in Legal System and News)
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