How to submit your camera to LiveLocation

LiveLocation is a worldwide map of public live cameras, played from their owners’ own players. Owner submissions are how beach bars, ski areas, marinas, hotels, towns, observatories and hobbyists share their views with travelers and weather watchers. This page explains exactly what we accept, how the form and verification work, what happens after you submit and the rules every camera on LiveLocation must follow.

The process at a glance

Who can submit

You can submit a camera if you own or operate it, or the owner has authorized you (for example a web agency for a hotel). We don’t accept cameras that belong to someone else, even if they are public somewhere else: we go to the original owners. If you found a great camera you don’t run, tell its owner about LiveLocation instead.

What you can submit

The camera must already stream somewhere a browser can play it. We play it from there; we never record, copy or re-host your video.

You can paste a full iframe embed code instead of an address; the form takes the address out of it. Not streaming yet? Start with streaming an IP camera to YouTube or adding a webcam to Windy.

Addresses we can’t accept

To protect camera owners and viewers, the form checks every stream address and refuses:

• anything that isn’t https://: no rtsp://, rtmp://, ftp:// or other camera protocols;
• addresses with a username or password in them;
• camera ports (anything other than the standard HTTPS port);
• raw IP addresses and private network names (like .local or .lan), and addresses that point into a private network;
• direct camera device addresses (the typical snapshot and video paths of camera web servers);
• addresses on hosts that don’t match the kind you chose, and networks that list cameras without their owners’ consent;
• for your own HLS or image stream, an address on a different domain from your website.

If your only option today is an open camera address, please don’t open ports to share it. Use YouTube, Windy, Angelcam, IPCamLive or Ivideon, or have the camera upload images to your website. Our guide to camera security explains why.

Filling in the form

1. About you: your name and email are required (we only use the email about this camera); your organization and website are optional, though your website is required for HLS and image streams on your own server.
2. The camera: a name (for example “Example Bay harbor”), a short description of the view, and what it shows (beach, harbor, ski slope, city square and so on).
3. Location: place the camera on the map or type its coordinates, and the place name. Put the pin where the camera is, not where it looks.
4. The stream: choose where it streams and paste the address.
5. Five confirmations (all required; see below) and agreement that we keep these details to review your camera.

The five confirmations

Every submission needs all five. They are the heart of our rules, and false confirmations lead to removal and a ban.

1. I own or operate this camera, or I am authorized by its owner.
2. It films an outdoor or public space. It does not show private interiors, other people’s homes or yards, or people up close.
3. Where the law requires it, the area has signs about the camera, and audio is off or lawful.
4. I allow LiveLocation to embed this stream and show its thumbnail, and I know I can withdraw at any time.
5. The stream is on YouTube, Windy, Angelcam, IPCamLive or Ivideon, or on my own HTTPS server with cross-origin playback.

Not sure about signs and audio? See livestreaming public places, the US audio-consent map and GDPR webcams.

Verifying that the camera is yours

When you send the form, you get a code that starts with LL- followed by six characters, plus a private status link. Keep the link: it is how you check progress and withdraw the camera later. Then place the code where the table above says:

• YouTube: edit the live video’s description (or your channel’s description) and add the code anywhere.
• Windy, Angelcam, IPCamLive, Ivideon: add it to the camera’s public title or description.
• Your own website: add <meta name="livelocation-verification" content="LL-AB12CD"> inside the <head> of your home page, or upload a plain text file at https://yoursite/livelocation-verify.txt containing the code.

Then press Check my code on your private page. It can take a few minutes after you save the description before we can see it; just try again. You have up to 10 tries per submission; if it still doesn’t work, write to us and we check by hand. Once the code is found you may remove it again.

What the statuses mean

What the reviewer checks

A person opens your stream and checks it against our camera eligibility policy. A camera can appear on LiveLocation only if all of these are true:

1. Published on purpose by its owner (your submission, with the confirmations).
2. The licence allows display on a site like ours, including pages with ads.
3. Outdoors or a genuinely public venue, framed wide: no private interiors, homes, yards, windows, bathrooms, changing rooms, children’s facilities or private work areas.
4. Not close-up on people: no doorbells, counters, ATMs or faces filling the frame.
5. We can show it without recording, re-hosting or altering it.

The reviewer also checks the location, the name and the view type. If a camera is not approved, the reason appears as a note on your private page. A good, wide, steady view of a beautiful place is the fastest way through review. See privacy by design for how to frame it.

After approval

• Your camera is created on LiveLocation and appears on the map, in near me results and on place pages after the next map update.
• It plays in its own player (YouTube, Windy, Angelcam and so on), credited “Camera shared by” your organization or name, linked to your website.
• We check its status automatically and show viewers whether it is live, how fresh the image is, or since when it has been offline. Visitors can report a camera that isn’t working.
• If someone reports a privacy concern, we hide the camera at once and contact you, then review it within a day.
• You can withdraw it at any time from your private link; it is hidden immediately.

Your data

We keep the details you send (name, organization, email, website and your confirmations) to review the camera, show your credit and contact you about it. We keep submission details for up to 12 months, store only a scrambled (hashed) form of your internet address for abuse protection, and delete your data on request at [email protected]. The form also limits how many submissions and code checks can be made per hour, to keep out bots.

Tips for a quick approval

• Allow embedding on YouTube (in the video’s or stream’s advanced settings), or we can’t play it.
• Give the camera a clear name: place first, then the view (“Example Bay harbor, looking south”).
• Put the pin on the camera’s real position and pick the closest view type.
• Switch the microphone off unless the sound is purely natural.
• For 24/7 YouTube cameras, submit your channel address so the camera keeps working when the video ID changes.

Do these next

1. Check your framing against our rules.
2. Fill in the form and place your code.
3. Embed the stream on your own website too.

Last reviewed October 7, 2026 by the LiveLocation team. General information, not legal or electrical advice.