Can I put a security camera on my house in Belgium?
Yes — but aim it at your own property, declare it and hang the pictogram. A security camera on your home falls under the camera law: you file a free electronic declaration at aangiftecamera.be at the latest the day before switching it on (validated yearly), display the official pictogram visibly and keep a processing register. The golden aiming rule: film only your own plot — door, driveway, garden. The public road may appear at most minimally (the strip in front of your façade if technically unavoidable) and never the neighbours' garden or windows. Indoor cameras for personal use need no declaration, but beware: a video doorbell that records can be declarable too. Keep footage at most 30 days and share it only with police after incidents.
📋 The rules
- Declaration via aangiftecamera.be — free, at latest the day before use, yearly validation
- Pictogram displayed + processing register kept
- Film your own plot only; public road at a strict minimum
- Never the neighbours' garden, windows or property
- Footage kept max 30 days (longer only as crime evidence)
🔓 Exceptions
- Indoor cameras for personal use: no declaration needed
- Live-only video doorbells without recording: outside the duty; with recording it applies
- Keeping footage longer than 30 days is allowed only when it serves as evidence of a crime — otherwise it must be deleted
⚠️ Penalties & fines
Camera-law breaches — no declaration, no pictogram, filming the neighbours — risk criminal fines of €250 to €20,000, multiplied by the statutory surcharge factors, on top of sanctions from the Data Protection Authority. Then there is the neighbour route: anyone caught on camera can complain to the DPA or the neighbourhood officer and demand re-aiming or removal via the justice of the peace — which costs you the camera and the installation. Don't forget the yearly validation of your declaration: an expired declaration is no declaration.
📎 Official sources
- BeSafe · Camera declaration system (NL) →
- Data Protection Authority · Surveillance cameras (NL) →
- VRT NWS · Even video doorbells sometimes need registering (NL) →
❓ Frequently asked
How do I declare my camera?
Online at aangiftecamera.be, logging in with eID or itsme, free of charge. The declaration must be in at the latest the day before you switch the camera on, and you validate or update it every year, or it lapses.
My camera catches a bit of pavement. Problem?
A minimal, technically unavoidable strip of public road is tolerated. Frame it so your own plot stays the target, and use the software's privacy zones to mask the rest if you need to.
My neighbour's camera films my garden. What can I do?
Talk to them first: filming the neighbours' garden or windows is never allowed. If nothing changes, complain to the DPA or the neighbourhood officer; the justice of the peace can order re-aiming or removal.
Does my video doorbell (Ring etc.) count?
Once it records what happens in front of your door, you become a data controller. The same rules then apply: declaration, pictogram, and framing that keeps your own plot as the target.
How long may I keep the footage?
Thirty days at most. Keeping it longer is allowed only if it is evidence of a crime. Don't circulate it on social media or in the neighbourhood app: after an incident it goes to the police, and to nobody else.
🔎 Common searches
What people search to land here:
- “security camera rules belgium”
- “declare camera belgium”
- “neighbour films my garden”
- “video doorbell law belgium”
- “camera pictogram mandatory”
- “camera footage retention 30 days belgium”