AITA for kicking my roommate out after finding out she was secretly recording me in the apartment?

A woman discovers her roommate secretly placed hidden cameras in their shared apartment, including her personal room, citing safety concerns. Feeling violated, she confronts her roommate and asks her to move out. The roommate defends her actions, but the trust is shattered. Now, friends are divided—some say the eviction was too harsh, while others understand the need to protect privacy. Read the full story below…

‘ AITA for kicking my roommate out after finding out she was secretly recording me in the apartment?’

I (25F) live in a two-bedroom apartment with my roommate, Sarah (26F). We’ve been friends for years and decided to move in together to save money. For the most part, it’s been fine—until recently. A few weeks ago, I started noticing weird things, like my stuff being moved around when I wasn’t home.

I asked Sarah about it, and she brushed it off, saying maybe I was imagining it or forgetting where I’d put things. One night, I was up late and noticed a blinking light coming from one of my bookshelves. I found a small hidden camera tucked between some books. I freaked out and confronted Sarah.

She admitted she’d put cameras in the common areas and my room because she felt “unsafe” and wanted to “monitor the apartment.” She claimed it wasn’t a big deal because she wasn’t watching the footage unless something happened, but I felt completely violated. I told her it was an i**asion of my privacy, and she didn’t have the right to record me without my consent.

She tried to argue that since we share the apartment, she had the right to know what’s happening in it. I disagreed, especially since the camera was hidden in my personal space. After a heated argument, I told her she had to move out by the end of the month.

She’s now telling mutual friends I’m overreacting and that she was just trying to “feel safe.” Some of them are saying I should have handled it differently or given her a chance to stay. But to me, this was a deal-breaker.

Here’s the feedback from the Reddit community:

LyraOO −  NTA. Recording someone without their consent is a massive violation of trust and privacy, especially in their personal space.

NovaXX987 −  Sarah had mentioned a few months back that she was worried about some packages being stolen from the lobby, but we live in a secure building with cameras already in common areas. I suggested we ask the landlord to review the footage or add more security, but she never followed up on it.

When I asked her why she didn’t tell me about the cameras, she said she thought I’d “overreact” and that she didn’t see it as a big deal since she wasn’t using them to spy—just to have “peace of mind.” But then why hide them? That’s what really gets to me. If she had come to me and we’d talked it out, maybe things would’ve been different, but sneaking cameras into my personal space was just too much.

Medical_Onion_3500 −  She felt unsafe in YOUR bedroom? You need to call the police on the loon.

boomzgoesthedynamite −  Yeahhh I’d call the police just to ensure she’s actually erasing all the footage. In your bedroom? F**k that.

Many_Worlds_Media −  NTA. You are massively *under reacting*. She could be selling pictures or videos of you n**ed online. Usually when you find hidden cameras in your bedroom – that’s what it’s about, and her explanation makes no sense.

Make a police report, make sure she has handed over any and all footage. A restraining order also makes sense in my mind. Do not give her until the end of the month to leave your apartment – you are not safe with her there.

Old_Airline_855 −  NTA, secretly recording someone in their private space is a massive violation. If she felt unsafe there are a hundred better ways to address it than turning your home into her personal surveillance project. You handled it better than most would because honestly that’s an instant eviction move.

gastropod43 −  NTA. What else is she hiding from you. The camera in your room is unforgivable.

Driftwood256 −  YTA. God, these fake AI stories are exhausting…

Extreme-Shower-2639 −  NTA- this was a complete violation of your trust and your personal space. You have a right to privacy in your personal space. You have no idea what she’s doing with that footage. Any ‘friends’ telling you to give her a chance are not real friends. I doubt they’d be willing to hear her out if it was them being recorded without their consent.

Vegetable-Cod-2340 −  NTA. Op, do the friends that think you should have handled it differently know the camera where in YOUR spaces, and not common areas?!?!?
Why would she need assurances that your space was safe?

Op, I would actually be very concerned that she didn’t sell that footage to a third party. Also, anyone who doesn’t get that her putting the camera in your areas is an insane privacy violation, and that her claim that you’d ‘overreact ‘ is a manipulator’s way of easing their own conscious.

Is secretly recording in a shared home ever justifiable, even for safety? Was asking the roommate to move out too extreme, or is privacy an uncompromisable boundary? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!