How to block a neighbor’s security camera.

While most preppers and people use security cameras as a passive way to monitor the goings on around their home, some people use their cameras for nefarious purposes like spying on neighbors or just being out right nosy.

In this day and age everyone feels entitled and asking a neighbor to point their camera in a different direction will most likely start a feud. Personally, I prefer to take a more direct approach when it comes to these types of issues.

Lets talk about how to block a neighbors security camera for the purposes of regaining control of the privacy of your home and your property.

How to block a neighbors security camera.

The best way to block a neighbors security camera is to plant rows of trees or shrubbery in an area that will fully block the field of view of the camera.

Planting Trees

Planting a row or several rows of privacy trees will ensure that the neighbors security camera is fully blocked and will also provide additional privacy overall. Thuja Great Giants can grow as tall as 30 feet tall and 6 feet in diameter. We use Thuja Great Giants along the front property line of our home to help with privacy.

While planting trees is a good long term solution, it will take time for the trees to grow and you might not want to way that long. The Fast Growing Trees company offers fir trees that can grow as much as six feet per year.

Directional Lighting

As a night time solution, using directional lighting could block a neighbor’s security camera by blurring the camera. In fact, one of the main problems of security cameras is improperly installed lighting that causes a blinding effect on the camera.

Directional lights are bright lights that resemble that of a flash-light but are much more powerful and can be installed outside in the yard or on the exterior of a building. Using light as a solution to block a neighbor’s camera will depend on where the camera is installed and the distance to where you would install a directional light.

Some localities have ordinances against certain kinds of lighting but most of the time those ordinance only apply to commercial properties and not residential.

Infra-red beam lights could also be used to block or blind the night vision of a security camera. Most off-the-shelf cameras remove the color infrared filter of the lens at night to obtain night vision and introducing artificial infrared light during these times will surely blind the cameras.

Installing a Privacy Wall

Just hear me out. Many localities do not have ordinances on how tall your fence can be. Ask your neighbor to point their camera in a different direction. If they refuse, build a wall for the specific purpose of blocking their camera.

Sure, it might be big and ugly, but if it works, who cares what it looks like. Not only would a wall block a security camera in it’s track, it also sends a message.

Privacy Screening

Another idea would be to use privacy screening fabric to block the field of view of the camera. This would make for a more temporary solution and can be more easily installed than a privacy wall. Being that this would be the more temporary solution, your neighbor may get sick of looking at it and just remove their camera, but don’t bet on it!

With both the privacy wall and the screening, both will depend on where the neighbors security camera is installed, it’s high and distance from where you can build such a wall.

Understanding the laws

In Virginia, there is no expected level of privacy even on your own property. It is perfectly legal for one neighbor to point a camera at another neighbor. It’s up to the individual property owner to install blinds or other methods to ensure privacy. The only place where privacy is expected are places like bathrooms and changing rooms.

I am unaware of any state that has a law against a security camera that can see some or all of a neighbors property. In some circumstances there might not be an option but to point it in a direction that might pick up some of a neighbors home or yard. If you are trying to watch a certain area of your own home, you might not have a choice but to also pick up some of the neighbors property as well.

Knowing the state laws and local ordinances for you live can be helpful, especially if the laws and ordinances end up being beneficial, but don’t count on it.

Conclusion

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but in today’s world of technology we have to learn to play the defensive game. If you need to block a neighbor’s security camera you’re going to have to take an approach that will quite literally block the camera’s field of view.

It’s getting so bad that drones are legally allowed to fly over the airspace of personal property and there is nothing a property owner can do about it. A drone could hover, with a camera, for hours above your house and it’s perfectly legal. The FAA has taken the side of drone operators, making any attempt to shoot the aircraft down could result in federal charges.