A court in the United Kingdom has ruled in favor of a woman who accused her neighbor of using a Ring doorbell in violation of her privacy.
Woodward set up four devices–including two fake 'dummy' cameras–around his home to deter would-be thieves from stealing his vehicle after an incident in 2019.
Dr. Mary Fairhurst, his neighbor, claimed she was forced to move out of her home because the security camera on the doorbell was too “intrusive,” the Daily Mail reports.
The neighbours lived side-by-side for twenty years without issue, but Fairhurst said Woodward became “aggressive” when she complained about the cameras.
The doorbells, exclusively sold by Amazon, use WiFi to record audio and video from surrounding areas.
Fairhurst said the cameras made her feel as if she was under “continuous visual surveillance.”
A judge agreed with her, and now Fairhurst stands to be awarded £100,000 in compensation for the breach of her privacy.
The judge said the footage Woodward’s cameras captured of Fairhurst intruded on her personal data, since the data gathered was outside his property, and that Woodward failed to process the data in a “fair or transparent manner.”
The judge added that Woodward had “sought to actively mislead the Claimant about how and whether the Cameras operated and what they captured.”
Woodward was stunned by the ruling, and told the Daily Mail that he never meant any harm.
"I purchased a Ring doorbell and Ring motion activated camera in 2019, in good faith to protect my property and vehicles,” he said. "To now be told these are harassment devices feels like a joke and I myself feel like I am being harassed. Many of my neighbours have cameras and smart doorbells."
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