Security cameras in the clients home--would you be comfortable?

I’m very late to this thread, but I wanted to chime in from the client POV. The first Rover sitter we used was great, but unfortunately she has moved. The 2nd sitter was not so great. She was being paid to house sit and stay overnight with our elderly dog who has health problems, but she’d leave at night and not return until the morning. She’d also stop in for about 15 mins (presumably to let our girl out and feed her, and to take photos), then leave for hours but send us photos through the day or evening with comments making it sound like she was here the entire time. Then she had a friend over (without our permission) while she was here midway in the booking, and the friend pointed out our Ring doorbell, which we had forgotten to mention to her. She then stopped coming in our front door and started going around our house to come in the back (no sidewalk and she had to walk through our wet lawn). We hadn’t been purposely watching her comings and goings until we began to realize she wasn’t staying the night and wasn’t there when she tried to make us believe she was. We didn’t say anything until we were back home and our key had been returned, but when I called her on it she was unapologetic and said we had “miscommunicated.” No, I had been clear about what we needed and our expectations. So we’re now going to put in a nanny cam in our main living area and will be sure to let the next sitter know it’s there and that we have a Ring doorbell.

I am both a sitter and a customer on Rover. As a sitter I only do sitting in my home, so there's no concern about cameras in someone else's house. I have one camera in my home which is able to view the the dogs' feeding area in the dining room and the middle part of the living room where the dogs lay. It cannot see the sofa or the kitchen, and the bedroom and bathroom are completely outside view. It records a week at a time. This allows me to go back and watch the sitter arrive and the dogs receive their meal and settle down in the living room while the sitter watches TV without invading the privacy of the sitter when they are relaxing on the sofa or making a meal or sleeping. I always tell the sitter that there is a camera and point it out to them. I offer to show them the camera's view on my phone. This way they can be comfortable that their privacy isn't being invaded, and I can be comfortable looking in on my dogs. The camera has nothing to do with distrust of the pet sitter and everything to do with giving me some peace when I am away from my fur babies. I can't even describe the peace of mind that it has given me during my travels to be able to share their meal time and see for myself that they are fine.

A lot of the people I sit for have camera systems. I am more appreciative if they are obvious or mention it but I also always assume that they have a camera on me that is hidden and act accordingly. Where it gets weird is when I think they have one in the bedroom or bathroom. When that happens and its obvious I either tell them that makes me uncomfortable or I locate the cams and cover them for my safety. And if they have one in the bathroom I don't sit for them again.

I prefer that clients have cameras when I do drop-ins or walking visits. I do what I am supposed to do and I don't mind to be filmed. If anything ever happened, there is a proof that I am doing my work and not something else. One client told me that the sitter before me had robbed them and stolen some valuable things. I was relieved to hear that they got security cameras because I did not want to be liable if they couldn't find anything.

Always on a case by case basis. I usually never mind the cameras.

In a few instances i actually rather prefer, that way i can teach the pups new tricks and positive behavior during my stay. Then the clients can go back and look at my techniques and see what worked and what didn't continue the positive reinforcement and teach the pup new tricks on their own.

Although there was one client I went to do a meet and greet with that I declined because he was .......... ill just say not giving out a very positive vibe. Also informed me there were cameras in every room of the house.

I know this is an older post but wanted to add something. When you are in any store shopping there are security cameras "watching" And when you are walking dogs in the neighborhood a Lot of homes now have outdoor security cameras that also show the street view. "Big Brother Is Watching!" A lot of times neighbors watch the "neighboring homes" very closely, especially if it has a Neighborhood Watch. You just need to believe and get comfortable with the fact that you are "on camera" and being "observed" no matter where you are at all times. Kathleen D.

I just finished a stay with a client who had cameras in their home. I didn't see them all, but I assume they had them everywhere and didn't find out until after a few days into sitting their house. It actually ended up helping me as I made a small mistake and one of their cats had gotten into their garage. Even while away the owner was able to see this and email me letting me know, and he wasn't upset.

Although I did feel a little on edge like I had to be on my top performance, one should realize that they should be working for this outcome anyways...

Good Question! Previously, my clients did not have cameras that I knew of, but being in someone else's home, I acted as if they had a "Nanny Cam". I would never do anything to damage their property, steal or do anything bad to their pet, but they don't know that.

Most traffic lights have cameras. All Interstates have cameras. All stores & restaurants have cameras, inside and outside. My last Corporate job had cameras on all doorways, hallways and parking lots. If you look at YouTube, you know every smartphone can record in a second wherever people are!

The only place I know I am not being filmed is inside my own home. (My home computer screen purposely does NOT have a built in camera, because they can be hacked & other people can view you) When you are not using your computer cam, I highly advise covering it up! I don't want others seeing me changing clothes.

I would definitely feel weird knowing that something is watching me and someone can look back on a video tape and see every move I made throughout the day, but I would still do the stay because I know that I am a responsible and trustworthy person and I would not do anything that I would be ashamed of them seeing.