Have you ever watched an episode of a true crime show in which police investigators went looking for video footage that might reveal the details of a crime? It is enough to make one wonder whether police investigators have legal access to home security video footage. Unsurprisingly, the answer is both ‘yes’ and ‘no’.
Generally speaking, police investigators can get access to home security videos under certain circumstances. But it is not a free-for-all. A police investigator cannot randomly walk into a home, seize all the cameras, and demand video footage stored in the cloud.
In the effort to make it all more understandable, I have borrowed four things to know about home security videos and police investigations from a recent CNET post. You can read the entire post here.
1. Investigators Can Request Video From Providers
The federal government and states generally allow law enforcement agencies to request video footage from cloud storage providers. Legal thresholds that can vary based on jurisdiction govern such requests. As long as the rules are followed though, cloud providers generally comply.
Here is a link to Ring’s policies if you care to read them for yourself. All the big-name providers have similar policies. So under certain circumstances, providers that store video footage in the cloud will provide such footage to help police agencies solve crimes.
2. Law Enforcement Can Always Get a Warrant
General requests are made with the expectation the providers will comply voluntarily. But if a police agency believes it needs video footage from a provider who is not cooperating, they can always go to court and ask for a search warrant.
A search warrant compels a cloud provider to surrender the requested video. But a warrant goes one step further. If you are storing video footage on your own server at home, you could be compelled by a search warrant to turn it over as well.
3. Voluntary Law Enforcement Registrations
A growing number of creative law enforcement agencies are bypassing the first two options, and the hassles that come with them, in favor of a novel approach to video access. That approach involves encouraging local residents to voluntarily register their cameras with law enforcement.
Voluntary registration tells local law enforcement that you have cameras and that you are willing to share video footage as needed. It would appear that this strategy is independent of any particular home security provider.
You could have a Vivint security system while your neighbor has a couple of Wi-Fi cameras and a Google smart speaker. Both of you can register at the local police department. If a crime occurred on your street, there would be an expectation that both you and your neighbor would voluntarily provide video footage.
4. Investigators Can Use Anything Made Public
Finally, law enforcement investigators can use any video footage that is posted publicly. Maybe you have signed up with your home security provider to share footage they can use to promote their brand. If it is public, police agencies can use it.
Likewise for any video footage you post on your social media pages. Literally anything you make public online is up for grabs. And by the way, it’s not just the police that can use it. Posting video footage publicly gives access to anyone who can find it.
You do have a right to privacy as a homeowner. But if you have video surveillance cameras taking footage of areas outside your home, that footage may be subject to police use under certain circumstances. Just be aware of that.
