Security Cameras near you

Local storage keeps recordings on a memory card inside the camera or on a recorder in the house. You don't depend on a subscription and the footage stays under your roof, but a burglar who takes the camera or the recorder takes the evidence too, and a full card overwrites older clips. Put the recorder somewhere discreet, ideally on a backup power supply.

Cloud storage uploads clips to the manufacturer's servers, so footage survives if a camera is stolen or damaged and you can review it from anywhere. It usually comes with a subscription, depends on your Internet connection and upload speed, and places your videos with a third party, so check how long clips are kept, who can access them and whether they are encrypted. Many owners combine the two: continuous local recording, with key clips sent to the cloud.

A camera meant to protect your home can easily record far more than your property: the neighbour's yard and windows, the sidewalk, the street or a shared lane. Filming what you don't need intrudes on other people's privacy and can sour relations next door, so the rule is simple: frame your own doors, driveway and yard, and nothing more. Many cameras offer privacy masking, which blacks out part of the image such as a neighbour's window, and motion zones that ignore the street.

Audio deserves extra caution. Recording conversations is more intrusive than video, and a doorbell that picks up people talking on the sidewalk records people who never agreed to it. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada advises disabling the camera and microphone when they are not in use, and keeping web-connected cameras out of especially sensitive areas such as bedrooms and bathrooms. In a condo, a duplex or a rental, check the building's rules before aiming a camera at common areas, and talk to neighbours before installing one that looks toward their home.

A camera that anyone can log into is worse than no camera at all. The Government of Canada's Get Cyber Safe campaign and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner stress the same basics, and a good installer sets them up before leaving.

Battery cameras are the quickest to install and need no wiring, but they must be recharged and are easier to steal. Plug-in cameras need an outlet nearby, ideally an outdoor outlet designed for wet locations. Wired systems often use a single network cable that carries both power and data from the recorder or a network switch, which avoids an outlet at each camera and gives the most dependable connection; running that low-voltage cable through walls and soffits is part of the installer's job.

A video doorbell usually connects to the existing doorbell wiring and transformer, which an electrician may need to replace if it can't supply enough power for the new unit. Anything that touches the house wiring, such as a new outdoor outlet, a new circuit or a floodlight camera replacing a light fixture, is electrical work, not a do-it-yourself job. In Ontario, only a Licensed Electrical Contractor can legally be hired for it, and the contractor files a notification of work with the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA). In Quebec, electrical work done for others is reserved for electrical contractors, meaning master electricians who are members of the CMEQ.