Home cameras and video doorbells: what to know before you buy
Point it at your own property and nothing else: your door, your garden, your drive. Then choose where the recordings go and what that costs, and lock down the app with a strong password and two-step login.
Last checked against the sources listed at the end of this page.
We sell nothing and fit nothing, and no company paid to be on this page. A few example products link to Amazon and earn us a commission: the note above them says so.
•Before you buy, find out where the recordings go: a memory card in the camera, a hub in the house, or the maker’s cloud. Check whether watching them back needs a paid plan, and what that costs a year.
Every Garda division has specialist Crime Prevention Officers (opens in a new tab), trained to advise on crime prevention. The Gardaí list them by county, with a phone number. Ask about your home as a whole before you spend money on a camera.
Once a camera captures images or sounds beyond your property (other people in their homes or gardens, on the footpath or the street), the DPC says the household exemption will not apply (opens in a new tab), and you take on all the duties of data protection law. That rests on a 2014 judgment of the EU’s Court of Justice, the Ryneš case (opens in a new tab), about a home camera that also recorded the public footpath.
Sound counts too: the DPC’s rule is about images and sounds (opens in a new tab) beyond your property, so think about the microphone as well as the lens.
Who can see the footage, and what may I do with it?
Keep it to yourself. The DPC advises people not to publish such footage online (opens in a new tab), and says that if you post clips on social media, you will be treated as a data controller, with all the duties that brings.
Giving footage to the Gardaí is different. Sharing it with An Garda Síochána to help prevent, investigate or prosecute crime is permitted under the Data Protection Act 2018 (opens in a new tab). If you have a picture of someone you think has committed a crime, the DPC suggests you contact the Gardaí, who are best placed to decide what to do.
Know where your recordings are kept: on a memory card in the camera, on a hub in the house, or in the maker’s cloud. And if the app lets you share the camera with family or friends, check who has access, and remove anyone who no longer needs it.
How do I keep the camera and its app secure?
A camera you can watch from your phone is connected to the internet, so treat its app account like any other important account.
Switch on two-step login. The NCSC recommends two-factor or multi-factor authentication (opens in a new tab) for important accounts: after your password, you enter a code sent to your phone, app or email. You will usually find it in the app’s settings or security section. Never give that code to anyone.
Keep it updated. The UK’s NCSC advises updating the camera regularly (opens in a new tab), and switching on automatic updates if the app offers them. Look for the words update, firmware or software in the app.
Only watch from outside the house if you need to. If you never do, the UK’s NCSC suggests turning off remote viewing (opens in a new tab). It warns this may also stop alerts reaching your phone, so for a doorbell you will probably leave it on.
Someone is fitting it for me: what should I check?
A battery model needs no wiring, but it has to be recharged or have its batteries changed. A wired one needs suitable wiring where it goes: doorbell wiring for a doorbell, or a socket or power supply for a camera. If you are not sure what you have, ask an electrician before you buy.
Where the recordings go, and what that costs
Some cameras record to a memory card (a microSD card) inside the camera, or to a hub in the house. Others keep recordings in the maker’s cloud, on the internet. Some only let you watch recordings back on a paid plan, and some features may need one even when the recordings are kept at home.
Check the yearly cost before you buy, and whether the camera still records without the plan. If you have a Ring camera or doorbell, or are thinking of one: Ring is changing how its cloud video is encrypted. Our home security products page has a short, sourced note on it.
A wider view takes in more of what is in front of it, including more of what is not yours, so the privacy zone matters more. Makers give the field of view in degrees on their product pages. If you want to see at night, check that the maker lists night vision, and whether it shows black and white or colour.
The plug, and the shop
Anything with a plug, a camera or a doorbell chime, needs a three-pin plug for an Irish socket; a two-pin European plug needs an adapter. And check who the seller is and where it is based before you pay.
Which kind of video doorbell?
A video doorbell lets you see and talk to whoever is at the door from your phone, and records them. For a door with no doorbell wiring, a battery doorbell is the simple choice. If there is wiring, some battery models can use it so you need not recharge them.
Whichever you choose, mount it so it looks at your own step and path, not across the road. Doorbells can see very wide, so set its privacy zones before you rely on it.
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We pick these from published specifications and what is sold to Ireland. We have not tested them ourselves. Each one was on sale to Ireland on Amazon’s UK store when we checked on 7 October 2026, and each records to a memory card, with no subscription needed for that.
Good for: a front door with or without doorbell wiring: it runs on its own rechargeable battery, or can be wired to the doorbell wiring you have.
Records to a microSD card in the doorbell (up to 256 GB, not in the box) or to a Reolink Home Hub. Reolink says there are no monthly fees for local storage.
A very wide view, 150° across and 150° from top to bottom. Check in the product details that it has a privacy zone (mask) setting before you buy.
Check it fits: For wired power, Reolink gives 8 to 24 V AC or 24 V DC. If you do not know what your doorbell wiring is, ask an electrician first. No chime comes in the box: Reolink lists a mechanical chime among those it works with.
Check it fits: The chime plugs into a socket indoors, and Tapo makes UK and EU versions of it. Check it comes with a three-pin plug for an Irish socket; a two-pin European plug needs an adapter.
A camera on the house can watch your own garden, drive or back door. Put it where it looks down at your own ground and away from the road and next door, and check the live view before you fix it in place.
If you only need it for a while, or in a place with no socket, a small battery camera is easy to move. A wired camera never needs recharging, but it needs a socket or power supply where it goes, and if you pay someone to fit it, a PSA-licensed installer.
An example battery camera
Reolink
Argus MagiCam, one camera, white
Good for: a small camera for your own garden, drive or back door, with no wiring: it runs on two AA lithium batteries and fixes with a magnet.
Records to a microSD card in the camera (up to 256 GB, not in the box) or to a Reolink Home Hub, with no monthly fees.
1080p video, rated IP67 for outdoor use. Check in the product details that it has a privacy zone (mask) setting before you buy.
Check it fits: Reolink gives up to 9 months on the two AA lithium batteries in the box, if the camera records about 5 minutes a day. It recommends lithium batteries: other kinds may not last as long, and the camera cannot recharge batteries.
What would it see beyond your own house, garden and drive? The footpath, the road, the house across the way, next door?
2
Decide where the recordings will go, and what that costs
A memory card in the camera, a hub in the house, or the maker’s cloud. Ask what watching recordings back costs a year.
3
If someone is fitting it, check their PSA licence
On the PSA’s register, under the CCTV installer category. Ask them to show you what each camera will see.
4
When you set it up, change any password it came with
Use a strong password you use nowhere else, and switch on two-step login for the app account.
5
Black out what is not yours
Use the privacy zone setting in the app over the footpath, the road and next door, or turn the camera until they are out of view.
6
Check the live view in the app
Look at what it actually sees, from your phone. Do it again whenever the camera is moved.
7
Keep the footage to yourself
Don’t post it online. If it shows a crime, give it to the Gardaí.
Before you put up a camera
For a new camera or doorbell, or one you have. Tick each line, and note what to fix.
Where it points
1
It sees only my own house, garden and drive
Not the footpath, the road, or a neighbour’s house, garden or drive. Sound counts too.
2
Anything that is not mine is blacked out with a privacy zone, or the camera is turned away from it
3
I have checked the live view in the app, and check it again if the camera is moved
Who can see the footage
4
I know where the recordings go, and who else can see them in the app
A memory card in the camera, a hub in the house, or the maker’s cloud.
5
I keep the footage to myself
I don’t post it online. If it shows a crime, I give it to the Gardaí.
Passwords and updates
6
Any password it came with is changed to a strong one I use nowhere else
At least 12 characters.
7
Two-step login is switched on for the app account
8
Updates install automatically, or I check for them
If someone fits it for me
9
Their PSA licence is checked on psa-gov.ie
Licence category: Installer of Security Equipment - CCTV.
10
They showed me what each camera will see, and put it in writing
Notes
From safeandsecure.ie/topics/home/cameras-and-doorbells. Last checked 7 October 2026. Sources: Data Protection Commission (dataprotection.ie), Domestic CCTV guide, May 2026; Private Security Authority (psa-gov.ie): PSA 19, 22A and 71; NCSC (ncsc.gov.ie); UK NCSC (ncsc.gov.uk).
Print this
The checklist prints on one page, in black on white, with a box to tick beside each line. The whole guide prints without the menus, and with the address of every source.
One thing to do this week
This week, stand where your camera is and check it sees only your own property.
Open the live view in the app and look at the edges of the picture. If you can see the footpath, the road or next door, the DPC names two fixes: a privacy zone over them, or a change of angle (opens in a new tab). No camera yet? Do the same before you buy: stand where it would go, and look.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from one of these, and each was read on 7 October 2026.
Data Protection Commission (DPC). Cameras and smart doorbells alike: only your own property, garden and driveway; images and sounds beyond it take you outside the household exemption; neighbours; doorbells; your car on the road; privacy zones and the angle; posting footage online; sharing it with An Garda Síochána; a neighbour’s camera.
EUR-Lex, the official site of EU law. The case the DPC’s guide rests on: a home camera that also recorded the public footpath. Checked here for the case name and date, which the DPC’s PDF spells “Rnyes”.
Private Security Authority (PSA). A licence is compulsory for contractors who install or maintain CCTV; anyone who employs an unlicensed contractor, householders included, also breaks the law; what a licence requires.
Private Security Authority (PSA). What is licensable: a contractor who installs or maintains CCTV for security; what is not, including a system a householder installs at home themselves.
Private Security Authority (PSA). A licensed contractor should tell you if a camera will capture images or sounds beyond your property, and record it in the System Design Proposal and the As Fitted Document.
Private Security Authority (PSA). The register of licensed contractors, searchable by name, county and licence category, including “Installer of Security Equipment - CCTV”.
National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Ireland. Two-factor or multi-factor authentication for important accounts, found in the account’s or app’s settings; a strong password of at least 12 characters; a different one for each important account; never share the code.
National Cyber Security Centre, United Kingdom. Change a default password; update the camera regularly, automatically if you can; turn off viewing over the internet if you do not need it.
Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). Since 1 July 2026, a €3 customs charge for each type of product in an order sent to Ireland from outside the EU, Britain included.
Reolink, the maker. Battery or wired power and the wiring it needs; microSD card or Home Hub storage with no monthly fees for local storage; the field of view; the chimes it works with; what is in the box.
Reolink, the maker. AA lithium batteries and how long they last; magnetic mounting; microSD card or Home Hub storage with no monthly fees; resolution and weatherproofing; the batteries it recommends.
Tapo (TP-Link), the maker. The built-in battery and how long it lasts; microSD card storage, and the Tapo Care cloud service that needs a subscription; the chime in the box and its UK and EU versions.
