Ken Twyman is frustrated with the province乌鸦传媒檚 legislation around tenants installing security cameras in their rented homes.

Twyman lives in the Cowichan Valley in a rented home with his elderly parents, including his 90-year-old war veteran stepfather who has Alzheimer乌鸦传媒檚 disease.

He said his stepfather has a tendency to wander, a common symptom of Alzheimer乌鸦传媒檚, so he installed a number of security cameras so he could monitor him and know which direction he was heading in if he went missing.

Twyman didn乌鸦传媒檛 inform his landlord about the cameras because he didn乌鸦传媒檛 think he needed permission, but the landlord was quite adamant about them being taken down, and the law was on his side.

Twyman said he made some phone calls to some provincial agencies and did some research and found that the legislation around security cameras in homes and the rights of tenants is quite broad and not easily defined.

乌鸦传媒淚t appears that landlords can put up security cameras on their rental properties without getting the tenants乌鸦传媒� permission, regardless of the invasion of privacy, but tenants have to get permission,乌鸦传媒� he said.

乌鸦传媒淚f that乌鸦传媒檚 the case, then the legislation should be changed.乌鸦传媒�

Robert Patterson, a lawyer with the province乌鸦传媒檚 Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre, said the question of tenants乌鸦传媒� rights when it comes to installing security cameras is a complex one, and there乌鸦传媒檚 very little in the Residential Tenancy Act around such issues.

He said the act contains a section describing what landlords can and can乌鸦传媒檛 do with regards to security cameras, but not tenants.

乌鸦传媒淚t seems in this case that the tenant has a compelling reason to install security cameras, but they can乌鸦传媒檛 cover common areas and neighbours乌鸦传媒� yards, for example,乌鸦传媒� Patterson said.

乌鸦传媒淚f that was done, it could be considered an unreasonable intrusion upon privacy, but it乌鸦传媒檚 a grey area in the act as to the tenants乌鸦传媒� rights.乌鸦传媒�

Patterson said if tenants are ordered by their landlords to take down security cameras and they feel that they have a good reason to have them up and are not intruding on other people乌鸦传媒檚 privacy, they could apply to dispute it and an arbitrator from the Residential Tenancy Branch might be appointed to hear the case.

乌鸦传媒淭his tenant seems to have a reasonable argument that security cameras should not be prohibited in this case, but you never know what an arbitrator will find and rule on,乌鸦传媒� he said.