Can I install CCTV on my own house?
Conditional — you need no permit from anyone, but the frame is strictly limited. You may install a camera on your own house without any authorisation from AZOP, the data protection agency, yet it may cover only your own property: filming the street, the pavement, a shared driveway or a neighbour's yard is not allowed (arts. 26 and 32 of the GDPR Implementation Act, NN 42/18). The myth "on my own house I can film whatever I want" fails: owning the camera gives you no right to a frame beyond your boundary. The moment the camera catches public space or someone else's land you lose the household exemption and become a data controller with full GDPR duties — signage, an access log, and a retention limit of 6 months.
📋 The rules
- The household exemption: the GDPR does not apply to purely personal or household use — but under EDPB Guidelines 3/2019 and AZOP only if the camera covers no part of public space or a neighbouring property; the moment it does, you become a controller with all the obligations.
- Scope: surveillance may cover the premises and the external surface of your own building and yard, and only to the extent necessary and justified for protecting persons and property (art. 26); monitoring public surfaces is reserved for public authorities (art. 32) — AZOP explicitly says no even to filming the pavement to catch litterers.
- Signage and access: outside the household exemption you must post a visible notice before anyone enters the recording perimeter (camera symbol, controller identity, contact) (art. 27), access to footage is restricted with a mandatory automated access log (art. 28), and recordings may be kept for at most 6 months (art. 29).
- Buildings: installing CCTV in a residential building requires consent from co-owners holding at least two-thirds of ownership shares, and cameras may cover only entrances, exits and common areas (AZOP).
- Technology traps (AZOP leaflet, October 2025): rotating/PTZ cameras must be set so that no angle of rotation reaches public space or another's property (use software privacy masks); a camera with any storage capability (SD card, app, cloud) counts as CCTV even if storage is switched off; audio recording almost never has a legal basis; footage of a burglar goes to the police — posting the clip publicly is itself a breach.
🔓 Exceptions
- Dummy cameras process no personal data — neither the GDPR nor the implementing act applies to them.
- A fully fenced garden and entrance filmed entirely within your own plot, with the footage seen only by the family, sits squarely in the household exemption — no signage and no other GDPR duties (the EDPB example cited by AZOP).
- If it is technically impossible to exclude a sliver of the neighbour's plot, AZOP accepts limiting the perimeter, for example blacking out or masking that part of the frame — with the neighbour's knowledge. Talk first, then adjust the angle.
⚠️ Penalties & fines
For CCTV-specific breaches (no signage, no access log, misuse of footage) art. 51 of the implementing act provides an administrative fine of up to 50,000 kn — the statute is still denominated in kuna because it predates the euro, so at the fixed rate of 7.53450 that is roughly 6,636 EUR; general GDPR fines run up to 20 million EUR or 4% of turnover (in 2025 AZOP issued 13 administrative fines totalling 6,725,500 EUR, mostly against businesses). AZOP cannot order a camera physically removed, but it can prohibit recording or narrow the coverage by decision. The hidden layer: publishing footage, or filming someone in a space shielded from view, is a criminal offence of unauthorised image recording (art. 144 of the Criminal Code, up to 1 year in prison), and the filmed neighbour can also sue for breach of personality rights.
📎 Official sources
- AZOP · the Croatian data protection agency, CCTV recommendations and leaflets →
- Narodne novine · official gazette (GDPR Implementation Act, NN 42/18) →
- Zakon.hr · consolidated texts of the GDPR Implementation Act and the Criminal Code →
❓ Frequently asked
Do I need a permit from AZOP for a camera on my house?
No — no authorisation or notification to the agency is needed for CCTV on a private house. The limit is in the frame: the camera may film only your own property, not public space or a neighbour's plot.
Can the camera film the street in front of the house?
No — monitoring public surfaces is reserved for public authorities (art. 32). AZOP explicitly rejects even the argument that the camera films the pavement in order to catch people dumping rubbish there.
My neighbour's camera films my yard — what can I do?
First ask for the angle to be changed or for that part of the frame to be masked, which AZOP accepts as a solution. If the neighbour refuses, you can file a request with AZOP to establish a breach of your rights.
Can I post footage of a burglar on social media?
No — the footage goes to the police, and publishing it is itself a data protection breach. In serious cases publication can also amount to the criminal offence of unauthorised image recording under art. 144 of the Criminal Code.
Does AZOP actually fine homeowners over cameras?
No published AZOP decision fining a private homeowner over a house camera was found — in neighbour disputes the agency issues warnings and decisions narrowing the coverage. The fines are concentrated on companies.
🔎 Common searches
What people search to land here:
- “smijem li staviti kameru na kucu”
- “videonadzor obiteljske kuce pravila”
- “susjedova kamera snima moje dvoriste”
- “kamera na ulazu u zgradu suglasnost”
- “azop prijava videonadzor”
- “smije li kamera snimati ulicu”