Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department will review the classification of neighbour harassment involving intrusive CCTV surveillance.

The police have a range of powers to deal with any behaviour that causes harassment, alarm or distress to others. The Government fully supports the police in their use of these powers to maintain public order and keep communities safe.

Individuals that use CCTV to film outside their property boundary have to comply fully with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published guidance which details the obligations the CCTV user will need to comply with: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/home-cctv-systems/.

Where there is sufficient evidence of harassment or stalking from a domestic camera system, this may lead to prosecution for a criminal offence of harassment or stalking under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. In addition to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, another potential remedy in civil law is the tort of private nuisance, which is a common law tort that relates to a person’s private rights in relation to land.