Camera Placement and Neighbor Privacy
Last updated: August 6, 2026
A home security camera is useful because it records. That is also why where you put it matters to the people around you. This page is practical guidance for setting up an AOVIS camera in a way that covers your own property without capturing more of your neighbors' than you intend.
This guidance is not legal advice. Laws governing video and audio recording differ by location and can change, and you are responsible for how you install and operate your cameras — see Section 6 of our Terms of Service and Section 1 of our Acceptable Use Policy.
1. Where to Point the Camera
- Aim the camera at the parts of your own property you want to protect — your entrance, driveway, parking area, or yard.
- Avoid framing that captures a neighbor's windows, doors, yard, or interior. If your intended view unavoidably includes part of a neighbor's property, consider a tighter angle or a different mounting point.
- Avoid pointing a camera at any place where people would reasonably expect privacy — bathrooms, bedrooms, changing areas, or an enclosed pool or hot tub — including through a window.
- Mounting the camera higher and angling it downward generally reduces how far into neighboring property the view extends, compared with a camera mounted at eye level and aimed straight out.
- AOVIS cameras use a wide field of view, so the area actually captured is often larger than it looks from behind the camera. After mounting, check the live view in the AOVIS app and adjust the angle before you finish the installation.
2. Activity Zones
Your AOVIS camera supports activity zones: you can define regions within the camera's field of view so that motion outside those regions does not generate detection events or alerts. This is useful when part of the view is a public sidewalk or a busy street that you do not want to be notified about.
Activity zones control what is treated as an event. They do not remove any part of the image from the video itself — an area outside an activity zone is still within the recorded frame.
3. Privacy Zones
AOVIS has defined a separate privacy zone feature, which masks selected areas of the field of view on the camera itself, before video is recorded or transmitted. Unlike an activity zone, a masked area is not present in the recording.
Privacy zones are not available yet. The AOVIS service accepts a privacy zone configuration only from a camera that reports support for the feature, and cameras currently in the field do not; any attempt to save one is rejected. We will announce availability when the feature ships. Until then, camera placement and framing are how you keep an area out of the recording.
4. Audio
AOVIS cameras include a microphone, and recorded clips and live streams may include audio captured from the area around the camera. Audio can travel further than you expect — a camera aimed only at your own driveway may still pick up conversation on a shared walkway or on the other side of a fence.
Laws about recording audio are stricter than laws about recording video in many places, and some jurisdictions require the consent of everyone being recorded. AOVIS does not provide legal advice, and it is your responsibility to determine and meet the requirements that apply where you live.
AOVIS cameras do not currently offer an in-app control to disable the microphone, so placement is the main way to limit what the microphone picks up.
5. Letting People Know
People who visit your home — guests, contractors, delivery drivers, household staff — may not expect to be recorded, and in some places you may be required to tell them. Telling visitors that a camera is recording, or posting visible notice, is a reasonable step whether or not it is required where you live. It also matters more when audio is being captured, since a conversation is recorded along with the video.
6. Sharing Video
If you share camera access with another person, that person can see what your camera sees. If you share or publish a clip, the recording leaves your control, and it may contain identifiable people who did not agree to appear in it. Consider that before posting footage publicly, and note that you may not use AOVIS services to stalk, harass, or track individuals — see Section 1 of our Acceptable Use Policy.
7. Related Documents
- Terms of Service — Section 6 covers your responsibilities for placement, what a camera points at, audio use, and sharing.
- Acceptable Use Policy — Section 1 covers privacy and surveillance limits.
- Privacy Policy — what AOVIS collects, how long recordings are kept, and what we do not do.
Questions about this guidance: [email protected]