You’ve installed a camera to keep an eye on your front door. One afternoon a package goes missing, so you check the footage. Sure enough, someone walks up, grabs the box, and disappears. But as you scrub through the video, something else jumps out—a private moment in your neighbor’s yard. Through a narrow gap in the fence, your camera has captured them having a heated argument. Or maybe something more personal.

In one 30-second clip, you’ve caught someone breaking the law–but you might also have broken one yourself.

Smart cameras are everywhere now—mounted on porches, tucked under eaves, perched on fences, and watching over driveways, garages, and balconies. They’re cheaper, easier to install, and produce sharper video than ever. But with that convenience comes a degree of legal uncert

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