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Evidently, you can personally have a camera in an apartment hallway only so long as it shows your doorway only and no activity of the neighbors or in the hallway itself.
The new "smart" door bells - which have a direct line of sight out into a hallway - might reveal the neighbor , say, getting his newspaper in his/her jammies or people going to and from his / her apartment.
This seems illegal. And/ or these types of doorbells may invade your neighbors privacy. Has anyone dealt with this issue his in their coop or condo?
This concerns an individual resident recording activity in the hallway - that is different than the management or coop doing it.
A resident cannot do this - they can only record their own doorway itself.
I agree with DM and his interpretation. It's the same thing as what our attorney told us.
We've had this issue come up from time to time. I use this article as a guide for what is and is not allowed.
https://cooperator.com/article/the-state-of-surveillance/full#cut
For a possible answer to the original question, start reading from the third paragraph above the section labeled "Do It Right, Or Not at All". You might also want to search for more information online.
Unfortunately, the hallway is not considered a place where a person has "a reasonable expectation of privacy". You may be protected if this is a bylaw of the corporation.
If you suspect the device has an AUDIO feature then this is ABSOLUTELY against the law.
It's a pretty good bet that the smart doorbell with video will also have audio. How else to ask "who is it" remotely.
I bet that the audio recording prohibition applies only to video *recordings* that also record audio. A device like a smart doorbell does not record video or audio under normal circumstances, so it is within the privacy requirements. If it is modified to actually record what it sees and hears, then it runs afoul of the privacy regs.
True story....however, if the device has a feature which lets you view the hallway and listen in on conversations without any active prompt from the outside it is an illegal "bug".
I like that idea, I may get one. Why? We have a very controlling board president who thinks it's her building to do what she feels or likes. Can't count how many times I threw out my garbage to the compactor room and she's roaming the halls. One of the share holders opened up her door and the president was listening at her neighbors door. So why not?
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Unfortunately, the hallway is a common area and not subject to privacy laws. It is perfectly legal to "tape" the common hallway. HOWEVER, it will be illegal to set up a camera where the device can peer into someone's private residence.
A slippery slope.
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