Yes, I was told by my last (and worst) HO that she didn’t trust older sitters since she saw (has an outside door camera) that her last older sitter “sat in bed all day with her iPad!” This was the 300 year old frozen cottage with hot water bottles left out and heat limited… even the hot water heater was turnes down! But I digress…. The HO clearly used her cámara to “spy” and was
Not trusting!
No problem at all, we chatted on another thread when we welcomed you from Kalkan so my fault for assuming you had remembered. #itsallgood
So, there was a camera where she could see the sitter’s bed? That’s creepy.
Hi @AndyAysegul
I think as a sitter of many sits now that certainly ring type doorbell camera’s are not that unusual. I have also sat in properties with outdoor cameras. I prefer for these to be mentioned but they don’t bother me as I’m not having all night BBQ parties or doing anything exciting outside the HO home.
Sound can be used for legit purposes. Like if you’re a homeowner and get a notification that someone is at your front door, you can speak to them without opening the door, even if you’re in another room or tied up or sick, or say you’re away from home — the person at the door doesn’t need to even know you’re away from home. That’s why there’s such a feature on various doorbell cameras. Of course, people can mis-use such a feature and cross boundaries, as @systaran described with her crazy host, unfortunately.
We sit in the UK and Spain, and have done plenty of sits with external cameras or Ring doorbells, and we don’t mind them, because we have never felt like any owner has ‘watched’ us.
I know it gets mentioned by some with problems on this forum now and again, where the owners have wrongly kept tabs on sitters, or where there has been a good reason for an owner to look at their external camera if there were concerns from neighbours, but we have never been made to feel like that at all, we’ve always had very respectful owners and we’ve done 30+ sits, so it would be fine if it were us.
I don’t normally care about cameras but this (and your other examples) is OUTRAGEOUS. They WANTED to make you uncomfortable. I hope you reported them to THS and detailed it in your review.
I would think THS would have to permit you to abandon the sit.
The “rules “ say “no internal recording or monitoring devices can be enabled. “
So if a camera ( facing outside ) but records audio from indoors that would not be permitted . Similarly if a camera is located outside but positioned to monitor inside the home that’s not permitted .
Excerpt from THS Camera & Recording Devices Policy
"We do allow devices fitted to the exterior of the property or doorbells that monitor the security of the outside areas, such as the porch, driveway, and garden.
“However, all devices must be disclosed to a sitter before a sit starts, and a pet parent must display this information on their listing as well as their Welcome Guide.”
@AndyAysegul, we are experienced housesitters and many properties (especially higher value) have inbuilt cameras of some sort.
Transparency seems important here. With that then, as you rightly note, the PP-HS selection process can be self-selective. Specifics are important:
- Are the cameras (and recording devices) external or internal to the property?
- Are any such devices disclosed in the housesit listing and welcome guide?
Surprises are not good for either party. Neither is creepiness.
We carry a portable detection device (amazon) that finds internal devices. Perhaps atypically protective. Not yet found undisclosed internal cameras but plenty of undisclosed internal recording devices. Probably PP honest oversights but against THS policy and undesirable to us.
“Recording devices” includes internal Apple HomePod, Amazon Alexa, Google Home devices … video and/or audio. Unless required for property management then we disconnect them during period of housesit and reconnect prior to departure.
That said, many of our housesits have included smart doorbells and/or external security cameras. From our perspective, that’s fair game; within THS related policy; and frankly understandable from security perspective. I truly hope that Pet Parents have better use of their vacation time than watching home security cameras. But PP can watch us externally if they are determined to do so. We have nothing to hide.
Throwing my pig into the muck: cameras are horrible, inside or out and I detest them and find it mind boggling the passive acceptance of their existence in society. It’s not normal to spy on people. A camera does not make you safe, it cant jump off the wall and protect you. Ask all the kids in P Diddy’s mansion, did all those cameras save them?
You would hate London and Chicago—they are full of police-monitored cameras.
No, I don’t hate either city actually and I’ve been to both but I loath cameras monitoring me anywhere. And they are everywhere, and it seems the passive response to being watched constantly has allowed for a situation of grievous breech of privacy to take place because people don’t speak up and say “I do not consent.” I’m here to inform you, my fellow humans, I do not consent to being watched. It doesn’t protect me. @Whirld-Traveller
@systaran I sure hope you included that fact in your review. We’d sure like future sitters to know this before applying!!
Since you mention they can catch the back interior wall then they really should be disabled during the sit. If you are concerned about security, could you remount them or replace them so that they won’t show any interiors?
I can see why it could be tempting to sit in the bed all day with and iPad.
I don’t have a problem with external security cameras, although for some sitters it seems to be an emotive and contentious issue. I’m actually thinking of adding to my profile that I’m happy to sit a home where they are installed. Also, that I don’t mind gardeners and cleaners, if that is the HO’s routine and they wish to maintain it.
I don’t mind cleaners or gardeners. I note in my profile that I appreciate knowing when they’ll turn up. That’s because I telecommute and try to avoid disruptions, especially during meetings. I can plan accordingly and maybe make myself scarce.
I’m currently sitting cats at a four-story home. When the cleaner came, I stayed on one floor, which I said I’d clean for myself.
We don’t mind cleaners and gardeners either @TheEnglishFlaneur although one cheeky HO suggested we pay for the cleaner in their absence despite having 7 cats!! Errrrr. Nope. #chancers
We always had amazing homeowners (HO). But once, a cleaner tried to boss us around. She has been working for the homeowners for 15 years and thought she was entitled. She wanted to tell us where the dogs were allowed to go and where not (which wasn’t actually true – she just wanted to have more free time the following week by restricting the dogs and therefore having less to clean). Well, as it turned out, she had plenty of free time the next week because we contacted the homeowners and informed them that we didn’t want to be bothered by her. They made sure she took a long break.
Since then we are very careful when third-party staff is about to come. Mostly we do not accept.