The new doorbell camera across the hall points straight at my apartment door. What is a reasonable privacy request?

The camera is less than eight feet from my front door.

Our apartment doors face each other across a narrow hallway. Last week, the neighbor opposite me installed a doorbell camera with a wide black lens. From its position, anyone leaving my apartment walks directly toward it. Anyone standing at my door is in front of it.

I noticed the camera because its light came on when I stepped into the hall in pajamas to collect a food delivery. Later that evening, the neighbor mentioned that my delivery driver had left a drink behind. He meant it helpfully, but it confirmed that the camera captures activity at my door clearly enough for him to review.

I do not object to him monitoring his own entrance. Packages have disappeared from our building, and the hallway call box is unreliable. I understand why a camera feels useful. I am uncomfortable with the fact that the geometry of our corridor turns my doorway into most of his background.

The discomfort is not limited to images of me coming and going. Friends stand at my door while I find my keys. My sister sometimes visits with her children. Conversations that feel like they are happening at my threshold may be within the device’s range. I do not know what it records, how long footage is stored or whether audio is enabled.

I have not asked those questions because I do not want the conversation to sound like an interrogation about his settings. The result I want is narrower: angle the camera toward his own mat and door as much as the hallway allows, and avoid alerts or recording zones centered on my entrance.

My partner says we should start with the neighbor, not management. I agree. I also do not want to ask for a technical adjustment that is impossible with the device. Maybe a wedge mount or privacy mask exists; maybe it does not. I should not pretend to know.

The neighbor has been pleasant in every other interaction. That makes this feel solvable if I can avoid leading with suspicion. My proposed opening is, “I understand why you installed it, but because our doors face each other, it appears to capture everyone at our entrance. Could we look at the angle together and reduce that view?”

Is that a fair request? Should I ask specifically about audio and motion zones, or focus only on the visible angle unless the first conversation fails?