Should you let police know if you have security cameras on your property? Privacy expert warns to be cautious

As more police forces partner with companies to figure out where security cameras are located within a community, one privacy expert says the public should approach with caution.

The Greater Sudbury Police Service has partnered with CAMSafe, a web-based voluntary registry of security cameras and closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage. Some OPP detachments in the northeast, including East Algoma and Temiskaming Shores, have also signed on with the registry.

"CAMSafe is a program aimed at creating a database of private security cameras within communities as a resource for police when investigating offences," Greater Sudbury Police stated in a news release.

"This program was developed to act as a simple, yet effective way of leveraging technology and encourages residents and business owners to help protect their communities and solve crimes."

Staff Sergeant Sherry Young, said knowing where cameras are in the community will help police solve crime.

"You can give us as much information as you want," she said. 

"So you can give us as little as your phone number, your email address and your address and your name and you can stop there. Or you can go a step further and give us some detailed information. You can upload some photos of where you have your cameras located."

Young said if police know where cameras are, it could speed up an investigation.

"It can be very time consuming  for police and try and connect with a community member to see if they do have cameras and make that connection," she said.

"So this is a great tool to have ease of access to a community member. We can contact you through email."

She added officers do not have access to the footage, rather where the cameras are so they can follow up with people directly. The footage would have to be handed over by the owner of the camera.

'A lot of caution'

An associate professor at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law, Kristen Thomasen, said she's not surprised the  police force in Sudbury is teaming up with CAMSafe.

"There have been police partnerships with surveillance system networks emerging over the past several years, particularly in the United States," she said.

"It is a little bit newer in Canada, but it has been happening for some time."

Thomasen said she questions whether having access to security camera locations will help police solve crime faster.

"We don't really have firm proof or evidence that would support whether this is useful or not useful," she said.

"There have certainly been examples in the United States that call into question its utility, including to law enforcement."

Thomasen added that the partnership could cause tensions between neighbours.

"So there are certainly concerns around the idea of people, homeowners [and] business owners acting as almost like agents of the state by performing the surveillance on behalf of police, which can raise tensions in ways that I would think [are] different than what we've seen ….than when someone just has a camera on their front porch for their own sort of internal purposes," she said.

"People should, at minimum, approach these kinds of partnerships with a lot of caution. But I personally would not opt into something like this myself."