ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — St. Johns County Sheriff's Office took to Facebook on Tuesday encouraging residents and businesses to sign up for their St. Johns Connect program. It's a program where people and business owners with surveillance cameras "register" and "integrate" those cameras with the sheriff's office.
The post quickly garnered dozens of comments from people vehemently opposed to signing up believing their privacy would be breached giving police access to their feed.
THE QUESTION
Does registering for St. Johns County Sheriff's Office's Connect St. Johns program give law enforcement access to your home security camera's feed?
THE SOURCES
- St. Johns County Sheriff's Office
- Christopher Hamer, Internet/Networking Security Consultant
THE ANSWER
No, residents or businesses who sign up for St. Johns Connect do not automatically give police access to their surveillance camera feed. Those who sign up for the program, or similar programs at other law enforcement agencies, only tell police that they have a security camera. When crimes occur in your area, it lets police know to reach out to you because you may have footage.
WHAT WE FOUND
A St. Johns County Sheriff’s spokesman tells First Coast News that by registering your home camera, you are informing the agency that there is a camera at your location in case officers would ever need to reach out for information gathered on that camera for an investigation.
It’s been helpful for investigators in the past. For example, police have "found information to recover children that have been abducted," internet security expert Chris Hamer said.
He confirms that simply registering a camera does not allow the law enforcement agency to tap into your camera feed.
"You’re not granting them access to it. You’re simply notifying them that there’s a camera at that location," Hamer said.
But he adds, "Do not volunteer that information if you’re not willing to participate" in an investigation.
However, the topic can become more complex. Home security camera companies have made news across the county for handing over video from home cameras to law enforcement, without asking the camera owners first.
"The complexity of this is the cloud storage system is not your computer. It’s your data on someone else’s computer," Hamer said.
And he said that depending on the camera company or service provider, that service agreement you agreed to, may allow the use of your videos especially, if subpoenaed.