I live in residential building with 4 floors and 6 apartments without elevator. Neighbor on 3rd floor installed camera facing staircase. I don’t feel good knowing that he has recordings of me going and leaving my apartment. Is it legal to do that in Taiwan. I tried to talk with him about it and he said it’s for safety reasons and that he won’t remove it.
PUt one monitoring his door?
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Maybe that’s option if this is legal in Taiwan.
One monitoring his door probably is NOT. One monitoring the staircase in front of his door is probably legal (but im no legal beaver).
TO each his own, but I dont think it would bother me. I don’t think hes there every hour watching and if he is …FANTASTIC. in case anything happens he can report to the police.
NOw i f you are up to no good, i can see a reason for concern 
I may arrive home drunk without one shoe, covered in puke and he could have that on video… theoretically 
I might be gay who didn’t come out of closet but he will know because I will be coming to my place with sexy guys at late hours.
What I want to say that we should be able to have some privacy after we pass main gate of our building. Of course it’s shared stairway and I can bump into any neighbor or their visitors but that’s different from having me on tape.
Btw this guy doesn’t leave home at all, he’s always there minding other people business, just now he upgraded that to new level.
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I guess you have to stop masturbating in the stairwell…
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So get an LED flashlight and shine it on the camera as you pass the camera’s range? Better yet, get a strobing light.
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That’s a good suggestion.
Cheap and easy to implement!
Infrared LEDs work great. They’re invisible to the eyes yet most cameras can be blinded by them if you have enough.
I hear you and I’m with you
It’s a fair question
And an invasion of privacy
I can see a cam on ones own private staircase but not essentially a public one
However should he not have ulterior motives and should you end up being killed by a date you bring home his tapes could come in useful
Barring that scenario it is an invasion of privacy
And a good question as to it’s legality
Wonder if that would be legal in the USA
The fact that it’s facing the stairs instead of his door is the main problem here. Making a recording in a public place isn’t illegal per se, but if he’s violating anyone’s privacy then he needs to have a legitimate reason for it, and unless there’s a gang of psychopaths terrorizing the neighborhood, his safety excuse sounds too subjective.
Assuming you’re a tenant, have you talked to your landlord about this? Is your neighbor a tenant or an owner? Have you talked to the other neighbors about it or about the problem neighbor in general?
If the neighbors/landlords can persuade him to reconsider, I suggest aiming for a compromise, like having the camera positioned so that it catches anyone who’s directly in front of his door without catching passersby (and if it’s unclear, he should be willing to demonstrate that the angle is correct by showing you the live feed). If he’s pressured to remove it entirely, he might just replace it with a smaller camera that can’t easily be seen.
You can also ask the Tsui Mama Foundation for advice.
Thank you so much for link. I think this can be solution to my problems.
Next text is rant about my neighbours (had to realise anger somewhere):
I live in center of Taipei city, super safe neighborhood. My landlord rent me place dirt cheap with one condition, not to bother her with anything. So if something is broken or I have certain issues I fix it by myself. It’s really great place except everyone Hates everyone in building. Guy from second floor moved out and is selling his apartment because for years it’s leaking from apartment above. He tried everything and apparently nothing worked. Owner of that apartment which is leaking is grumpy old lady who lives with cats and play piano 15 hours a day. Then we have guy with camera and he is owner of place. If this is China he will be that one who walks around neighborhood and gives grades for Social credit system. Other people in building are young Taiwanese professionals who are renting place. They work whole day and come home to sleep, not interested in anything.
My neighbours think shared space or things in building is not their business. That shared stairs are so dirty, I clean them once in month or two but no one else would touch it. When water pump broke no one did anything, they just pretend it’s not their business and go in Family Mart to use toilet. In end I replaced it because I couldn’t stand live without water.
Two of them constantly throw trash from their mailbox on floor next to main gate. One of them likes to drag blue trash bag on stairs then often it leaks disgusting liquid on floor.
When intercom broke again no ones business…
Did I mentioned I live in most expensive neighborhood it Taipei city. Prices of real estate are insane here. This people are not some poor guys living in middle of nowhere.
I have faith in Taiwan legal system and will try to see how they can help me. Normal communication with neighbors is not an option.
Now I see why buildings with management are functioning so much better. You pay monthly fee and have clean communal areas, security guy takes your parcels, he has cameras on entrance but that’s really for security not for voyeurism, you have people to deal with trash, someone fix water pump, cleans water tank, change light bulb in hallways, paint walls in shared area, unclog main drain pipe and vent pipe…
Wish there is a law that you must have management in shared residential building. Either shared duties among owners or outsource it to someone else for fee.
Wow! Just… Wow!
No wonder your landlord told you to not bother her with anything!