HI @Envy welcome to our community forum and thank you for joining … not quite sure from where but it’s great to have you here.
What a lovely gesture from the owner, trust and transparency is what makes for a great pet sittig experience for everyone involved.
Enjoy connecting with other members from around the world and welcome again.
Angela & The Team
Nothing wrong with asking at all. I believe home owners have an obligation to tell sitters if there are indoor cameras and allow us to decide if we wish to continue under those conditions. A sitter’s privacy is as important as a home owner’s security, and perhaps if they feel the need to record us they shouldn’t take us on in the first place.
It can be a bit awkward asking, but its definitely okay to ask. We actually bring a camera with us when we housesit, just so that we can keep an eye on pets if we are out at the shops or something. We sometimes use this as an “in” to ask the owners if they have any cameras.
We are at a sit now where they have outside cameras - but we did have to ask about this - not sure if they were going to mention it otherwise.
Maybe one for @Ben-ProductManager - but to make it less awkward could there be a sort of checklist when a sit is confirmed from both sides which is compulsory for the both parties to “sign”, which could include things like “Any camera locations”, or “Estimated departure times” and even address and contact info etc. Some of the things are included in the Welcome Guide - but not all fill this in - would basically be essential information.
Absolutely, I feel the same. This whole thing is about trust.
Totally agree.
Short answer no. Don’t feel awkward asking questions especially ones about privacy. If an owner asks the sitter not to go into certain rooms we respect that so they should respect our need to know about cameras or listening devices.
I just hope we haven’t had any listening devices in any of our sits. Who hasn’t opened a kitchen cupboard and made derogatory remarks about their chose of dinnerware? Oppps
Elsie
I believe that it is against CCTV law to have cameras in UK without informing the staff or people they are situated on. So yes, definitely ask and make some compromise like someone has already mentioned. I certainly would not want to sit in a house that had indoor cameras watching my every move!
We are on our second ever sit and experiencing this right now, the advert stated no security cameras upon arrival we were told by the owners partner doing the handover that there were cameras on the dogs beds , we still felt uncomfortable with this as they were 2 way audio record and we had no way of knowing. It felt like an invasion of privacy and a lack of trust in us, and there was the issue of us having to make sure that we didn’t inadvertently walk past half naked, which late at night on the first night trying to settle a distressed puppy, did in fact happen, we got into a little conflict with the owner as they did not want us to turn them off , we agreed a compromise where we turn them on if we go out without the animals.
Hi @adamas any TrustedHousesitters owners with audio/visual recording devices must declare to sitters BEFORE an arrangement is confirmed as stated in our member guidelines. This equipment is readily available, easily installed and it’s installation must be revealed to sitters allowing them to make an educated decision on whether or not the sit conditions are acceptable to them.
Thank you for making it clear on this post that this is not a THS sit you are on, if this was with TrustedHousesitters then your first action would be to contact our Membership Services Team for advice and support.
Good luck for the remainder of your sit.
Please make sure you mention this in your review in case they keep trying to lie to future sitters. I’d also report them to admin so they can deal with this violation on their end. The fact that they blatantly lied would have had me walking back out the door. It’s a huge violation of trust, which is the foundation of this entire site. It’s also a violation of the terms of use that they didn’t tell you in advance. I would never take a sit that had internal cameras.
It can be illegal, depending on the jurisdiction. This happened to me on an otherwise perfect sit. (I felt “watched” one evening while making dinner, and looked up to see a red light on a hidden camera.) I had been there for weeks. I installed an app on my phone to detect cameras–they were also in the hall upstairs where I’d been walking naked between the bathroom and bedroom.
I researched the laws related to that state, and what the HO was doing was illegal (audio recording without consent).
Hi @Katie When you discovered the hidden cameras with the app on your phone, did you say anything to the homeowner(s)? And since audio recording without consent was illegal in that state, did you report it to any authorities?
Hi all,
I thought I read somewhere that the HO has to disclose the use of internal cameras on the property? Personally I’m not comfortable with the idea and have declined sits for this reason. We booked a sit starting this week about 6-8 weeks ago, but the sitter just disclosed the information to us yesterday. We will complete the sit and I will let the HO know that moving forward we wouldn’t be comfortable. Just confirming that the use of internal cameras should be disclosed?
Thanks!
@Sarkev1230 If you scroll back in this post 6 days you’ll see @Angela_L 's comment about cameras.
Hi Exactly our sentiments. Surely it must be against the law to invade an individual’s privacy?
This issue makes me angry. Whatever is the world coming to that innocent animals have to be subjected to surveillance.
Welcome to the forum @Sarkev1230 and yes you are absolutely correct that cameras must be disclosed as per the T&Cs … this is from the “help desk” on the main website:
I am going to tag @Therese so that you can connect so she can advise you on how best to proceed in this particular situation to ensure the owners know that they must declare CCTV to future sitters.
The post @Snowbird (thank-you 
) refers to from Angela is here…
All the best and I hope your sit goes well 
Hi @Sarkev1230 I have emailed you via our membership services so that you can connect further if you need. Kind regards Therese
I have to be honest and say I have a little bit of chapped bottom over this. I would not have considered, nor applied, had I known in the first place. #pouty
Absolutely! It’s trusted house sitters not sitters under surveillance
Another question to ask on video chat but can we be sure they are telling the truth?
You are coping far better than I would, I would have thrown a hissy and walked.