The Allahabad High Court recently held that a private CCTV camera cannot be installed in a manner that infringes upon a neighbour’s privacy. The ruling came after a petitioner complained that his neighbours’ camera captured people entering and leaving his house. The court directed him to approach the district magistrate, who must decide his application within a month. The ruling raises a larger question: when does a security camera become a tool of intrusiveness?

Justices Ajit Kumar and Garima Prashad observed in the October 26 order that the petitioner’s neighbours had positioned their CCTV camera in a manner that interfered with the privacy of persons visiting his residence. He argued that it also violated his privacy.…