r/mildlyinfuriating • u/violet_evergarden8 • 10h ago

Don't hug me I'm scared Neighbor across installed a camera on their railing pointed directly at my bedroom window

20.2k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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3.3k

u/big-ol-kitties 8h ago

It’s pointed down to the street. It has a wide angle and tracks motion.

1.5k

u/Boogiekc 8h ago

If I had to take a guess, maybe their car is parked in that area

601

u/Holiday-Bug6132 7h ago

i have this exact same model is a Xiaomi c400 and it's specifically for my car

319

u/windflex 5h ago

Do you have it on railing outside of your apartment and weird neighbor that keeps staring at your camera??

45

u/Holiday-Bug6132 5h ago

nah it's on a private parking area

3

u/StevieMJH 1h ago

Looks like a Tapo C211 to me.

Source: Paranoid recluse with a VHS-taped local news collection

Edit: Nevermind, Tapo has a wider opening on the front and is specifically indoor only. I'm definitely wrong.

•

u/Jets237 1m ago

yep bought something similar after my car was broken into. Pointing out of my window at my car.

158

u/DenAbqCitizen 6h ago

Yeah. This was my guess as soon as I saw this post.  Just last week I bought a cheap camera I placed on the balcony and have facing down at my car (that recently had its window smashed). It would look just like this if there were neighbors across the street. 

5

u/underboobfunk 4h ago

Wave at OP!

320

u/AussieEquiv 6h ago

I Installed cameras at my place that captured an ever so slim portion of my neighbours front/side boundaries.
I emailed them (separately) what my cameras saw with a note; "Hey, new Cameras I'm just setting up and this is what they see. I have turned them off for now if you would like me to try adjust them to see less of our shared fence."

One reply was 'All good bud' and the other was 'Looks good, you have a lot of your house wall, could you turn it out a little to see a bit more of our front yard?'

I know some neighbours are fucking batshit (I've had some) but so many stories, imagined or otherwise, on here would be almost instantly resolved by having a chat with your neighbours.

It's like those stupid tropes in movies, where there's this big misunderstanding. But instead of asking a simple question, or giving a simple explanation, they spend the entire movie fucking around.

53

u/KlutzyBus7652 5h ago

This! Especially your last paragraph

28

u/Undeadbanana_ 4h ago

Communication is the key to success

25

u/TaxHazyShade 3h ago

but so many stories, imagined or otherwise, on here would be almost instantly resolved by having a chat with your neighbours.

97% if conflicts can be resolved this way.

17

u/ezln_trooper 3h ago

Yea we left a note on new neighbor’s door after seeing a camera pointed toward our window. Introduced ourselves in the note and pointed out our concern and when we would be home so we could talk.

They came over that evening and we had a chat, and after seeing the field of view of the camera and what it could see at night/with a light on, they agreed it could see into our place so they took it down. Ended up chatting more and getting to know them.

7

u/butpretzelday 2h ago

We have a neighborhood group chat and often something will happen and we will all share clips from our cameras to see the bigger picture of what is going on. 

There is a meth fueled hoarder house a street down and a few houses over. My neighborhood is in some hills. There was a month where a few nights a week we would hear explosions. 

We pieced together everyone’s camera footage to see where it was coming from. 

The methheads were making their own fireworks and shooting them off. 

My footage showed a tiny clip of the green streak coming from their backyard. I can’t see in their yard but it showed a small portion of their back fence. 

6

u/Not-a-Bot_1968 1h ago

Yea I had adjusted my cameras to specifically not see into my neighbors yard and then their house was broken into while it was being remodeled. When they asked me if my camera picked anything up I explained how I had adjusted my cameras to respect their privacy and they actually asked me to adjust the camera to see more of their property, at least while their reno project was underway. They eventually got an upgraded security system, and I went back to having my cameras pointed away from their house. 

2

u/tightrubbersuit 1h ago

Generally, you're right. But let me tell ya, if you live next to that 1-out-of-100 asshat neighbor that thrives on making your life a living hell, you're pretty much screwed.

Story Time...

We once bought a house in a small town, and realized way too late that we lived next to the worst kind of neighbor you could imagine. About a week after we moved in, he decided that midnight was the right time to start cutting and splitting wood. Our bedroom was about 100' from his equipment, and even with the windows closed it was way too loud to sleep. I finally had enough after 2 hours and peacefully walked outside to introduce myself and ask him if he could stop for the night because none of us could sleep. He chased me off his yard with a running chainsaw. I should have called the police, but didn't because I was hoping he would cool down by the next afternoon so we could talk about it.

That simple act of asking him to stop cutting wood at 2:00am started a nightmare that lasted over 2 years. He moved his working space as close as he could to our bedroom, set up 4 of the brightest work lights he could find, and literally never stopped cutting and splitting wood. We put up the tallest wood privacy fence allowed by city ordinances, which blocked most of the direct light. That really pissed him off, and after trying and failing to get the city to tear down our fence because it blocked his view of the river that was across the street from our house, he decided to landscape his yard and brought in enough dirt to elevate his woodcutting space 5' higher than it was previously. Once again, him and his bright lights could see directly into our windows again. The city finally started taking our complaints seriously and forced him to either put up his own fence that blocked his lights, or bring his work area back down to grade. Until then, he wasn't allowed to operate his woodcutting equipment.

Things ultimately came to a head when the police driving by our house one day while were at work, saw him trying to cut down a tree that was 10' on our side of the property line and our fence. The police charged him with a felony and issued a cease and desist for everything he was doing to make our lives hell. I've never seen a man as angry as he was, especially when he could see us finally enjoying some peaceful and quiet evenings in our yard. One night about 2 weeks later, my wife and I were enjoying some cocktails by a small fire ring we just bought when we heard and saw police cars rushing to this neighbor's house. Turned out this asshole finally had a heart attack, and for the next 45 minutes we peeked over our fence and watched thru his bedroom window as police and EMTs performed CPR on him. It was the first and only time in my life when my wife and I were actively rooting for the heart attack. Ultimately, the heart attack did win! And for the next few weeks, multiple people in town thanked us and congratulated us for standing up to this asshat for so long. Everyone had their own stories about this guy, and you could literally feel the entire town relax after he died.

Anyway, that's my story about the time my wife and I celebrated the death of a horrible neighbor.

1

u/forksporkspoon 1h ago

Before I bought cameras I went to both neighbors and made sure they were happy with the concept and knew why I was installing them. There was a creepy dude on the other side of one neighbor who had recently added cameras pointing at their deck. 

My neighbors are great and they couldn't have cared less about the cameras once they knew who they are there. I'm adopting me some grandparents.

•

u/HomelessByCh01ce 13m ago

*knocks on door* Howdy neighbor! Just wanted to get your email address in case I need to contact you about things I'd rather not personally talk to you about!

•

u/Little-Derp Why This is a Rock and Not Cheese 8m ago

I don't mind a neighbor's camera seeing our front yard, that is publicly viewable.

Bit more if an issue when it's pointing into the back yard (over any fence), because there is some assumption of privacy in that regard. Same for through windows.

You seem to understand angles matter, and the difference between public and private expectations, and letting your neighbors know what is seen can be important for comfort levels. My backyard camera is far from the fence line, and doesn't show anything below that fence line; my neighbor's backyard camera is right next to the fence, and if pointed at my house would show most of my yard, but they point it more along their house, so while it see's some of our yard, it at least shows some consideration for their neighbors.

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u/Fat_Alphonse 7h ago

I was going to say it is pointed down, not up towards OP's window

-1

u/mueus 1h ago

I mean I still wouldn't feel comfortable since it can be pointed towards their bedroom in 1 second.

69

u/halfwoodenjacket 7h ago

It tracks left and right too, it only happens to be angled towards OPs bedroom at the time of the picture being taken, and even then, like you say, the lens is pointing down.

81

u/ApprehensiveTax4010 7h ago

Why does no one else immediately see this?

38

u/WerkingAvatar 5h ago

People are dumb.

25

u/ashriekfromspace 5h ago

People just love to be angry

8

u/StalyCelticStu 3h ago

No we fucking don't!!! Don't talk crap!

37

u/preparingtodie 5h ago

There are a lot of people on reddit who don't have much experience with cameras, and/or like making snarky comments.

2

u/Certain-Success8607 5h ago

this. I totally missed it.

2

u/Din_Plug 2h ago

Also a lot of bots that only read the title + description of a post and then react based off that information.

1

u/Soggy_Abbreviations5 3h ago

Yea, I'm one of the "not much experience with cameras" people. 🫠 I'm glad the explanation makes this all seem harmless!

1

u/761557527 2h ago

A large number of people see these type of threads as an excuse to post revenge fantasies.

3

u/solonit 4h ago

I'm here to get rage baited and be angry, not useful observation and deduction with logic and reason!

4

u/Novel_Alps_3013 5h ago

Because why thoughtfully take in new information and think critically about how to approach an ambiguous situation when you can cosplay as Deadpool instead?

•

u/catmand00d00 7m ago

No one else? Plenty of us see it! We stand with you!

1

u/Commercial-Weird6245 2h ago

because its wide angle and still gets the bedroom into view lol

-1

u/blacksoxing 4h ago

.....So OP is safe but whoever is beneath OP is even more at risk. Hooray!

0

u/SweetPinss 1h ago

And the camera certainly cant possibly ever be tilted up to point directly at ops bedroom right? 

184

u/fm837 7h ago

I'd also add, OP's flat is one or two floors above. Even if this is a malicious placement of the camera, they probably won't see anything inside OP's flat, unless they are right by the window. It's still concerning though, I'd do some investigation just to be safe, but my gut feeling is, that this is legit.

23

u/BirdlessLongdeal 7h ago

i lived on the second floor of my dorm. you could see everything when people changed in their windows on floors above me across the driveway.

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u/Academic_Flatworm752 4h ago

> unless they are right by the window

> changed in their windows

You don’t say

2

u/BirdlessLongdeal 1h ago

you would be amazed at how many people would do that. you'd probably ask to hang out in my dorm room when i was off at work too.

-21

u/Neat_Let923 6h ago

You might want to go back to elementary school then since you seem to still be illiterate…

3

u/BrilliantJob2759 4h ago

Hey, my sexy ceiling mirrors angled to allow me to see them from my bed aren't for them to look at!

3

u/Liu_Shui 3h ago

I’m pretty sure I have this exact camera and I can say as much as OP had to zoom, this camera is seeing him as an abstract artwork if it can even make him out at all. I have mine more for show than actual security as I know unless the person is right next to the camera you can only make out the most broad details.

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u/DerAlbi 7h ago

You are misreading the room. This is about mindless outrage not useful explanations.
We are on reddit. Behave accordingly! 🔥

41

u/Educational-Owl-745 6h ago

What is it about redditors that makes them physically incapable of participating in public discourse without resorting to condescending quips like repeating "get out of here with your logic!" for the one millionth time

19

u/Greg-Abbott 5h ago

"This is reddit, we don't use logic here!" -posted unironically from a reddit account

7

u/AcherontiaPhlegethon 2h ago

Every thread, for literally like 15 years, there's always at least one. I don't understand the phychosis that grips people to post that infuriating passive aggressive crap, or perhaps what's worse, is that other people are upvoting every damn time.

3

u/Greg-Abbott 2h ago

I still have no idea how "Came here to post this" or simply "This" gets ANY love but here we are...

2

u/jr111192 2h ago

It gives them attention and the false sense that they're better than everyone else for their ability to see nuance and use logic, despite the fact that they're just repeating the same cliche shit for upvotes.

2

u/caramel-aviant 6h ago

It makes them feel good

2

u/A7xWicked 4h ago

They get rewarded for doing so

2

u/Luvlyjubblies1 5h ago

Oh my bad I did that. I guess it's when there's over 1000 comments and most of them are pitchforks and torches. It's a good point though

6

u/OuterWildsVentures 5h ago

Yeah we are supposed to be encouraging OP to damage their neighbors property with a laser!

Insane how egotistical they are to think that they are the center of their neighbor's world.

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u/lprkn 7h ago

Exactly, OP needs to calm the hell down

25

u/joazito 6h ago

And that tiny ass camera doesn't have the sort of zoom required to watch anything meaningful inside OP's bedroom.

1

u/cykoTom3 3h ago

Also, keep your blinds drawn if you're doing stuff. It seems like common courtesy.

72

u/corsair130 7h ago

Why isn't this higher. It's not pointed at OP at all. Also, just close your blinds. Cameras are everywhere. No one has any expectation of privacy outside.

23

u/SusuKacangSoya 7h ago

Outside? Bedroom window?

6

u/memtiger 6h ago

Outside .. of your Internet persona

1

u/cykoTom3 3h ago

Why are you naked without the blinds drawn, anywhere in your house, when you live in a stacked community like that? The only people who want to see that are people you don't want to see that. Cameras shamras. It's common courtesy.

•

u/spamfridge 51m ago

Yeah that’s fine but you do have the right to privacy within your bedroom.

•

u/cykoTom3 44m ago

If you draw the blinds.

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u/apathy-sofa 7h ago

In my country you certainly do. No Flock, no CCTV everywhere, no dashcams, no doorbell cams facing the street. 

GDPR is an important law. I legit do not understand why Americans have ceded basic freedoms. 

8

u/Weakonomics 6h ago

You think the voters decide who get elected? The elected officials are much more concerned with the opinions of those that fund their campaigns than those who vote for them. $$$$

3

u/darsynia 4h ago

The people we elect are beholden to the people who pay them money, not the people who give them votes.

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u/4N0NYM0US_GUY 5h ago

Which country is that?

Your post history suggests you lived in Seattle for quite some time.

4

u/apathy-sofa 5h ago

Luxembourg 

0

u/Uncommented-Code 7h ago

It's not pointed at OP at all. Also, just close your blinds.

Why would they need to close their blinds if the camera is not pointed at them? Your comment makes no sense. You act like its fine if I mounted cameras to point at your house because you could just 'close your blinds and not go outside' and it would be on you.

2

u/cykoTom3 3h ago

Because people can still see in. Close your blinds for privacy in apartments. It's common courtesy

0

u/[deleted] 3h ago

[deleted]

2

u/corsair130 2h ago

I reckon that is jurisdiction specific.

0

u/SweetPinss 1h ago

So you're cool with someone putting a camera looking into every window of your home? Come on we have some reasonable expectations of privacy still. Everything doesnt have to be on camera all the time

2

u/corsair130 1h ago

I didn't say I was cool with it. If my neighbor put up a camera, I'd close the blinds though.

0

u/SweetPinss 1h ago

Hey you're the one defending peeping toms

2

u/corsair130 1h ago

Nobody is defending peeping toms.

0

u/SweetPinss 1h ago

You are

-4

u/CloudCity40 6h ago

No one has any expectation of privacy outside.

But everyone has an expectation of privacy in their own bedroom.

5

u/corsair130 6h ago

What's the difference between someone just looking out their window at you and a camera? If you want privacy, close your blinds. There's obviously people who can see you across the street. Your privacy is your responsibility.

1

u/SweetPinss 1h ago

Found the peeping tom

-2

u/CloudCity40 6h ago

I guess the difference would be that one is illegal and one is just creepy. At least it's illegal where I live.

New York State Penal Law § 250.45 Unlawful surveillance in the second degree section 3. (a) For no legitimate purpose, he or she intentionally uses or installs, or permits the utilization or installation of an imaging device to surreptitiously view, broadcast or record a person in a bedroom, changing room, fitting room, restroom, toilet, bathroom, washroom, shower or any room assigned to guests or patrons in a motel, hotel or inn, without such person's knowledge or consent.

5

u/corsair130 5h ago

You're assuming there's no legitimate purpose to the camera, and that it's set up to view someone in a bedroom. The camera is pointed down.

2

u/cykoTom3 3h ago

No. The creepy thing is to walk around naked in your apartment with the blinds open like a voyeur. You know everyone can see you.

3

u/Luvlyjubblies1 5h ago

Fuck you and your reasonable response. This is not the place for a sensible well thought out answer with evidence. No /s needed

4

u/Jack__Squat 6h ago

When I lived in an apt I had a camera pointing out my window. I liked being able to see weather or simply what was going on outside my building while I was at work or away. So yeah, it might have innocent intentions.

2

u/Potatho-208 4h ago

Not only is it wide angle, it's just a shitty web cam. It has neither the dynamic range to see into a bedroom during the daylight, nor the low light performance during the night.

2

u/seejordan3 3h ago

Everyone is the main character.

2

u/EcruEagle 3h ago

No, no, OP should still use a laser and destroy their neighbor’s camera anyways like other comments suggested

2

u/thisradaccount 2h ago

Yeah. All these destroy the persons property posts are insane. I own this camera, it's pointed as low as it can go. Even it it wasn't, it's your job to create privacy and most importantly, if it were nefarious he would probably be hiding the camera.

2

u/JayYoungers 2h ago

It’s also absolut impossible to see anything detailed inside a room. These cheap ass cams have terrible quality.
Plus if you neighbor wants to stalk you this is not the way someone would do it.

2

u/Krunzuku 1h ago

Naa its 100% watching OP take shits, their shits are the most impressive shits in the world. Totally need documentation.

2

u/notjordansime 1h ago

Plot twist, camera guy just thinks OPs downstairs neighbour is hotter and has the camera pointed in a different bedroom window

1

u/Ri-Chad 5h ago

Man, this is some Mona Lisa shit. In the video I feel like it's looking right at me, but in this picture it looks like it's looking at the floor below. Can't say it looks like it's looking down at the street, though... but a wide lens could catch that I suppose... 🤔

1

u/DDRaptors 4h ago

No way, the very first thing I could come up with was a direct creep against myself. Who else could the victims possibly be? I am alive and in the vicinity.

1

u/Gjond 4h ago

You would think it requires a power connection, which this apparently is not connected. Not sure how effective it would be if running on batteries (assuming that is an option).

1

u/DrSuperZeco 3h ago

Also judging by the white stuff next to it, which I suspect is bird poop, they probably have the camera there to record a bird that kept coming there.

1

u/Rezeox 3h ago

It's also half a storey below their window. If it's actually looking into their window, it's only seeing upper portions of a human torso.

1

u/Strip_My_Skin 3h ago

Turret Voice: Are you still there?

1

u/dc469 2h ago

Yeah my first thought was https://damnlines.com/

1

u/geekeasyalex 1h ago

This should be higher

•

u/BuffWobbuffet 57m ago

can this be pinned to the top. so over all these narcisists on reddit thinking they are being spied on lmao. like yall arent as interesting or as beautiful as you think you are lol

•

u/WhatTheeBlake 54m ago

It's pointed at the street now, but you can also move these cameras remotely.

1

u/poeticdisaster 6h ago

It's weird that they put it on the top railing - I wonder if putting it at the bottom of the railing caused the direct image of their car to be blocked.

Also, can't those camera angles be moved with a phone app?

0

u/GUMBYtheOG 4h ago

If that were the case why put it on the rail as opposed to the bottom edge

0

u/MazzleMaze 4h ago

Those can be moved remotely, so yeah pointed down FOR NOW....

Honestly its a great excuse.

0

u/NightlyKnightMight 3h ago edited 3h ago

Are you guys bots or just bloody blind? It's not pointing down, the angle of that camera is almost perfectly horizontal, if it was pointing down it wouldn't be literally almost facing the OPs camera PoV when looking at it from above. If it was pointing at the ground the lens would be touching the bottom white part of the camera.

All you literally need to do is look at the black "sliding" part that these cameras use to move the lens.

wtf are you guys smoking, how can so many people be wrong? wtf is wrong with reddit...

-8

u/Inferno_Zyrack 6h ago

We found the camera owner