With the popularity of the HULU series “Only Murders in the Building” blowing up, it seems like every neighbor is on high alert.
Security is an important issue.
Some people love it, others feel it’s intrusive.
So where is the line between both?
Case in point…
Redditor supersecret235 wanted to discuss their experience and get some feedback. So naturally, they came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
They asked:
“AITA for wanting my neighbor to remove her ring doorbell?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“I’ve been living in my apartment complex for two years and it’s been wonderful.”
“Recently a young woman moved in across from my apartment.”
“We introduced briefly and apart from the noise made when she was having movers bring in her things, she’s very quiet and polite.”
“However there’s one thing that bothers me.”
“She has a Ring doorbell on her door.”
“Recently, I saw her leaving and asked her why she had it and that I was worried that she could see me in my apartment.”
“She said she had it for packages and due to no peep holes on the door, and just extra security.”
“She showed me that yes it can see my door a bit but assured me she’s not on her phone all day checking it.”
“I expressed my uncomfortableness and asked her to remove it.”
“She told me she was sorry I was was uncomfortable but she was not spying on me and had a right to have one up.”
“She wasn’t breaking her lease and she had seen other people in the complex have one.”
“I told her I don’t care about other people, I want it gone or I will be reporting her.”
“She told me not to bother and called our property manager regarding it because I got a visit from her asking to leave her and the doorbell situation alone.”
“Am I really out of line for this?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared OP WAS the A**hole.
“YTA – Just think of it as extra security that you don’t have to pay for.”
“I guarantee if something happens at your door step, the first thing you’ll do is go to her for footage.” ~ Pronebasilisk
“I mean i would feel weird if this persons ring was pointed right at my door as I don’t like being recorded in general.”
“Obviously not the case since this persons ring only catches a little bit of it.”
“Doesn’t mean the person is doing anything illegal, s**t all I do is sit in my place watching anime and reading manga.”
“Just some people don’t like being filmed, doesn’t mean though that they can dictate others security.” ~ HayzerUnlimited
“YTA OP… and I just want to add to this, as a tenant attorney – she’s allowed to have it.”
“Property management confirmed this.”
“You’re not going to win this battle and will probably come out of this situation with a Notice to Quit for harassing another tenant.”
“And as a woman who lives alone – I have a ring camera, too.”
“Because people can be scary.” ~ ghostdogtheconquerer
“Seriously. I’m so glad that the new neighbour flagged this immediately and contacted their property manager.”
“OP YTA, please leave this person alone.”
“You requested they remove it and they declined.”
“End of story.” ~ erincee
“A neighbor two doors down went off on me because I caught her kid on my ring doing something weird in my driveway.”
“And I told her to keep her kid off my property or I’m calling the cops and child protective services.”
“She got the neighbor in the middle involved so I set up the zone feature thing and told them I wouldn’t record on their property.”
“A week later someone stole stuff from the middle neighbor’s porch, she asked for the footage but it didn’t get recorded.”
“Sucks to be her.” ~ ChiefSh*tsInPants
“I caught someone snooping around my neighbour’s car and shared the footage with the local high school (it was a student).”
“They recognised him, had a chat with him and my neighbour has had no further problems.”
“Now imagine if my neighbor had been a d*ck to me about my cameras.” ~ cuddly_pickles
“Jumping onto say this.”
“I moved from a very unsafe neighbourhood to an amazing condo building in a very secure area.”
“I have a Ring, the kind that you mount in the peephole.”
“The neighbors on my floor LOVE it.”
“They are so glad someone has one.”
“The neighbor across from me is pretty elderly and frail and his kids are really happy I have the footage in case something happens in the hallway.”
“OP, you’re being ridiculous. What are you afraid of?” ~ SB_Wife
“YTA. Are you for real?”
“She can see the outside of your door to use legal terminology, you have no expectation of privacy for the outside of your door.”
“It’s a public area.”
“Nor for what can be seen during the brief periods of time when your door is open.”
She, on the other hand, has legitimate concerns for her safety and property.” ~ Magoo69X
“OP, YTA. A lot of apartment complexes also have cameras on the property for security.”
“Would OP tell the building manager to remove the cameras at the end of the hallways because they can see OP’s door? Doubt.” ~ Kelsusaurus
“Why does this feel like one of those ‘tell me you’re dealing drugs without saying you’re dealing drugs’ scenarios? YTA.” ~ SeePerspectives
“I thought the same thing!!!”
“For the record, I do feel it’s dystopian that police can access ring camera footage without a warrant or your permission.”
“And it’s reasonable not to want one trained on your door at all hours, though you also can’t force your neighbor not to have one.”
“But I think this person needs to be careful telling on themselves to their property manager like this, lol.” ~ Legitimate_Spring
“I was reading and had to pause and think ‘does she mean discomfort?'”
“If the doors have no peepholes, I don’t know how anyone could think it’s bad to have a way to see who is outside your door?”
“I understand privacy concerns with regard to surveillance culture, but c’mon.”
“A young woman living alone deserves all the safety tools she wants. YTA and a hypocrite, OP.” ~ uhhh206
“Yes, YTA; way out of line.”
“A single woman living alone is smart to have a doorbell cam.”
“It could only get a view inside your apt if your door was open, and then only the limited fuel of view it has.”
“It’s not X-ray vision.” ~ Attorney26
“YTA. The hallway in the apartment is public space.”
“You have zero claim against her, and as someone else pointed out, you’ll be glad she has it when something happens outside your apartment (like a package getting stolen or someone trying to get in).” ~ bhartman36_2020
“YTA. You asking her to remove her ring makes you sound like a creep.”
“It’s not like it’s facing towards you, it’s to keep her safe, and she’s not breaking her lease, so get over yourself.” ~ bean*itchbayne
“That was my thought.”
“My first question would be, ‘Why, what are you planning to do at my door?'”
“I’d never trust someone that asked me to remove a reasonable security feature.”
“There is literally no good reason to make that request.”
“It’s not like it’s a security camera that can see into a space where one would expect privacy.”
“When you open your door, you should expect that people can now see you.”
“So, definite YTA for the OP.” ~ MisterUltimateXRP
“YTA, you’re on camera a lot more than you may realize.”
“There’s no rules against them from the complex, so you’re overstepping.”
“If you lived in a single-family home would you demand the same?” ~ TCTX73
“YTA. And man I bet she’s glad she’s got a Ring considering her new neighbor is trying to bully her into removing something she’s completely entitled to have installed.”
“Your behaviour is a red flag for future un-neighborly interactions.” ~ tseebirret
“YTA, a huge one at that.”
“Not everything is about you, nobody’s dying to spy on you in your apartment.”
“Guaranteed you could broadcast yourself in your apartment and nobody would care.”
“She’s putting her own safety over whatever he’ll you think, as she should be.” ~ XenaRen
“YTA. Pretend she has a peephole, she has every right to stand by 24/7 and look out that peephole.”
“This is basically the same thing.”
“You have no right to privacy in a shared hallway and common area.”
‘It’s not like the camera has X-Ray vision and can see through your door!” ~ aew76
“Very clearly YTA.”
“She told you she bought it for her own security and you’re response was basically ‘I don’t care about you or your safety.'”
“Cool way to meet a new neighbor by the way.” ~ Rolling_Beardo
“YTA, she has a valid reason for having the ring doorbell, and you have no expectations of privacy in the common areas of your apartment building.”
“Legally and morally she is well within her rights, honestly it seems like you are either doing something illegal or immoral and that is why you have a problem with it.”
“If you require so much privacy you should probably not be living in an apartment complex.” ~ Wisdomofpearl
Well OP, Reddit is pretty clear.
Why do you feel so uncomfortable?
Hopefully you the neighbor can get past this and find a peaceful co-existence.
Good luck.