Internet rallies around man who's to deal with neighbor breaching his privacy using security camera

A home is meant to be your safe haven. However, for one man in Texas, he felt like his privacy was being breached after he caught his neighbor raising a fence two feet higher than his just to put a camera up that would face his yard. Reddit user u/Magicisntreallyreal shared his story on the platform, hoping that people on the internet would help him to find a solution to this frustrating predicament. 

OP took his frustration to the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit and said he's been having "problems with this neighbor since they moved in years ago. They originally built their fence 2 feet into my property in early 2020. I had to pay for a boundary survey and a lawyer to get them to correct their mistake. Decided to build a privacy fence and be done with them once and for all this past November. One month later, they raise the height of their fence and this pops up (facing front to back). Police won't do anything and I can't afford a civil suit. (Texas)." 

Privacy is protected under the law, but sometimes, it depends on the situation. According to Nolo, in Texas, one can have a security camera in their home which points to a neighbor’s area. But they need their neighbor's permission to record another person on their property.

Netizens did not hold back when it came to their suggestions. u/Money-Shoulder-4187 said, "Put a pinwheel on your fence, just in front of the camera… keep that thing's view blocked and motion detector alerting at all times…" u/Positive_Force_6776 wrote, "I'd put a big patio umbrella out there. The offset kind. Put it right in front of his camera. If he moves the camera, move your umbrella. Good luck. u/AngryYowie joked, "Just raise your fence about two feet (but only right in front of the camera). Alternatively, place a small mirror on a stick so the camera can film itself and nothing else. Lastly, get a laser and just point it directly at the camera at night." Jokes aside, u/am_i_your suggested, "Can you disable a surveillance camera with an infrared laser? The answer is yes and it applies to all surveillance cameras. If the criminals use an infrared illuminator, powerful LED torch light, or even a reflective board, the camera cannot catch the image during the nighttime."

On a serious note, many recommended that OP talk to the neighbors and if that did not work, it would be best to speak to an attorney. They added that building legal evidence against them would be helpful to OP in building a future case against the neighbor.

Woodyville06 shared, "I've read several of the comments and the ones that stick out are: talk to the municipality about the compliance to code of the fence and camera, in writing. You also need to talk to a lawyer before doing anything else (and I mean anything). It doesn't matter if the neighbor, city, county, or cops aren't doing anything, once you have a lawyer and notify them in writing, you'll see a behavior change. Also, post this in a legal sub and get some advice there."