Are Landlord Installed Phone Intercom Systems Also Audio Monitoring Devices

… and can a tenant really know for sure if it is said that it is not?

I have lived here in my NYC apartment nearly 40 years. The landlord’s now grown son is management. Management gave no notice when this system was going to be installed, which system was being installed, nor disclosure of how these systems work.

While it was being installed I told management that I do not give permission to use my phone number for this system. I most certainly would not download the app onto my phone as I would need a lawyer to review the terms and conditions for my privacy rights before I do that. I am not going to assume the cost of a lawyer to get a new buzzer.

Our old system was fine enough. The old system was a very simple system. When I moved in there was no intercom. Visitors would shout up and I’d throw the keys down in a sock. The first intercom was installed in the 80’s in less than a day: holes were drilled; wires were run; and intercoms were installed in each apartment. Press the button, go to the intercom and press speak and ask who it is, then press listen, then d ecide whether to buzz them in, or not, or go downstairs to meet them. I don’t need to see their face and if I choose I can look down the staircase to determine what floor the visitor is on. If I’m not home… clearly I didn’t make plans to meet with the visitor and since I’m not there I won’t be giving them access.

I rarely… very rarely shop the tree killing, cardboard jungle producing Amazon. Maybe 1x per year. I mostly shop retail, and I have a local business that accepts my packages if it is not a United States Postal delivery package.

The old way works fine. I certainly didn’t have to sign away my privacy rights to my landlord…

What features are offered to landlords who install a phone intercom system? First, you must download an application and grant it access permissions on your cellphone. I haven’t downloaded any apps onto my cellphone. A visitor’s request to contact you through the cellphone intercom system gets ‘relayed through a phone account owned by the landlord’ which then dials your number to that application. Since the calls are relayed through the landlord’s phone account the ‘landlord has access to the calls, creates logs, and can listen into the intercom calls/or make transcripts of conversations’.

Since it goes through the landlord’s phone line as an intercom can the landlord also use your phone as a security monitoring intercom system when no visitor has made a requests?

There are too many legalities for me to get involved and accept this new system. People will just have to call my cellphone direct, and then I’ll walk downstairs or throw the key out the window like the good old days… 🙂

If a few tenants reject the use of their cellphone number to get this service… the landlord would have to reconsider his/her choices.

seyma

in Doors & Windows 6 years ago

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SoSlope | 6 years ago

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The landlord isn’t using the intercom to spy on you. They use chips secretly installed in your brain for that.

daveinbedstuy | 6 years ago

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[11825991_10205561956503050_4079213002027914195_n](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s1/:brownstoner:7Za5:11825991_10205561956503050_4079213002027914195.jpg.jpg)

Guest User | 6 years ago

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I think it highly unlikely that your landlord is spying on your phone or your visitor’s information – the language used is more likely intended to cover their behind from a legal standpoint. Privacy is a very precious commodity these days, but I think you may be creating more trouble for yourself by not using the system. There is something to be said for adapting to the times in which you live, but ultimately one must live the way that best suits their needs. Good luck!

dorkofwindsor | 6 years ago

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How is it you manage to navigate the outside world?

kevrob | 6 years ago

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yudashasom | 6 years ago

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Typical rent stabilized tenant…