User feels constantly surveilled by indoor cameras and has to manually close/open lids. A feature allowing scheduled privacy modes (e.g., automatically turning off/covering cameras during certain hours) would enhance privacy and reduce anxiety.
I (24M) moved into my good friend’s (39M) house and we’ve been living together for 3 years. We’re not partners. I don’t work on account of a stressful degree, but the house is paid off and he makes enough for bills, so I buy groceries, do chores/cook, so I’m home often when not in class. 2 years ago, he bought a doorbell camera and security cameras for the sides and back of the house plus window/door sensors for security and to monitor his dog who sometimes escapes the yard. Fine. But soon after, he wanted security cameras **in** the house. He claimed it was to monitor the dog’s mischief. They’d be in the entryway, living room, and hallway (which points at our bedrooms and bathroom). I said I was opposed. I didn’t see the point of internal cameras when the outside was covered already. He said he’d give me access to the app, buy cameras with lids, and allow me to close the lids (which tbf, he did) but I still didn’t agree. I didn’t want to have to worry about my privacy accessible in a hackable app. But he went ahead and got them anyway. The dog was often of little interest on camera as he milled about, so with the lack of activity, the cameras had a different benefit. A text right as I left the house: “Why are you just now leaving? You should go to the store earlier.” At dinner: “Why didn’t you get downstairs until 11? You were supposed to feed the dog at 10.” I would say something funny happened with the dog while he was working: “I know, I saw.” If he texted with no immediate answer, I’d hear from a camera loud speaker: “Why are you not answering?” Sometimes he posted funny things of the dog on the cameras to his insta story, but a few times it’s something “funny” of ME on camera. I’d ask him to remove it and though he did, he didn’t understand what the big deal was. I’d close camera lids, but because he gets upset if I don’t open them before bed, I’d mostly leave them open to avoid the scolding if I forgot. The house feels less like home and more like the Truman Show sometimes, often leading me to avoid tasks as I feel I can’t do anything without the fear of surveillance. I’ll admit there are some things I should’ve been doing at home that I was pushing to a later date/time or forgetting. Still, I feel using the cameras for receipts is overstepping some kind of privacy boundary. Fear of being watched is so ingrained now, I catch myself sometimes unable to relax in the house or reflexively checking for a camera in my room before undressing. My friend says the cameras are harmless, that I should just get things done properly if I don’t want to be monitored or called out by him. But I still feel this only causes me paranoia and frames my task struggling as *my* fault for what I feel was (and still is) an invasion of my privacy. AITA for surveillance anxiety affecting my productivity/behaviour?