My neighbour has put up a camera or a digital peephole that points at the landing: is it legal?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

It depends on what the device does. A digital peephole or a video entryphone that only shows the image when someone rings or when the neighbour looks, without recording, works like an ordinary peephole and raises no data protection issues. If it records the landing, the staircase or the doors of other flats, continuously or when it detects movement, it no longer falls within the exception the law makes for people who record only the inside of their own home. In principle, a private individual cannot monitor the common areas in this way. In that case you can ask your neighbour to remove or redirect it and, if they do not, complain to the “Agencia Española de Protección de Datos”, Spain's data protection authority. What data protection law says Data protection law only excludes cameras with which a private individual captures the inside of their own home. The landing and the staircase are common areas, so a device that records them is subject to those rules. The 2025 guide of the “Agencia Española de Protección de Datos” spells this out as follows: A video entryphone that is only used to see who is calling and to open the door falls outside the rules. A digital peephole falls within them when it does more than a traditional peephole, such as recording, storing the images, activating when it detects movement or sending them to a mobile phone. A private individual's cameras that capture entrances or façades also fall within them. In practice, the Agency usually orders a camera that records common areas to be removed or redirected and may impose a fine. If the camera is fake, there is no processing of data and the Agency does not intervene, although the owners' association (the “comunidad de propietarios”) can demand its removal if it has been placed on a common part without permission. What you can do Ask your neighbour in writing to switch off the recording or to remove or redirect the device so that it does not capture the common areas. This is often enough. Inform the president or the managing agent. If the device is fixed to the wall or ceiling of the landing, which are common parts, your neighbour needed a resolution of the owners' general meeting and the owners' association can require its removal. If it is used to watch or harass the neighbours, the owners' association can also take action under article 553-40 of the “Código Civil de Cataluña”, the Catalan Civil Code, which prohibits activities contrary to normal community life. Complain to the “Agencia Española de Protección de Datos” through its online portal, with photos of the device and of what it points at. Bring a claim in court for intrusion into your privacy or your right to your own image. For this claim, which protects fundamental rights, the law does not require an attempt at negotiation first. The data protection rules are the same throughout Spain, because they are national and European. Outside Catalonia, the owners' association acts under the Horizontal Property Act (“Ley de Propiedad Horizontal”) instead of article 553-40.