The legality of video surveillance.
The topic «The legality of video surveillance» has recently become increasingly popular among various segments of the population.
This is not surprising: everyone has their own opinion on this matter, based on their specific position and situation. Video surveillance is carried out on roads, in stores, in educational institutions, in offices.
To avoid unpleasant situations, video surveillance should be used in strict compliance with the law.
Some requirements
All recommendations are based on officially established principles of personal data protection, and they must be followed throughout the life cycle of video surveillance systems and in any operations involving their use.
Video surveillance requirementsregulate the use of closed-circuit television that records images of identifiable individuals or information directly related to them for the following purposes: identifying what a citizen is doing — for example, when observing a store or on the street; performing certain actions in relation to a citizen — for example, transferring his images to the police for use in investigating a crime; using images of citizens that may in any way violate their right to privacy — for example, transferring video materials to a television company.
Video surveillance requirements apply primarily to commercial structures and organizations that regularly record citizens on CCTV equipment at their disposal.
Use video surveillance adequately for security purposes
This means that it is necessary to select equipment and camera locations in such a way that security goals are achieved. Both fixed and movable cameras should be located in such a way that the viewing area does not include areas of the territory that are not of operational interest and cannot be subject to video surveillance by law — for example, private property of citizens.
The location of the cameras must ensure a sufficiently high technical quality of the images.
Is video surveillance legalin places where the highest level of privacy is expected — for example, in changing rooms and toilets? — Yes, but taking into account the requirements: cameras should be used only in exceptional cases, provided that there are serious grounds for their use.
In this situation, citizens should be notified that they are being monitored. Otherwise, the legality of video surveillance will be violated.
Warning about filming
You are required to notify people that they are in a surveillance zone.
Warning about filming is most effectively and at the same time traditionally carried out by placing clearly distinguishable signs at the entrance to the controlled zone and the presence of duplicate signs inside the zone itself.
Highly visible and visually clear signs are particularly important where cameras are not in plain sight and in areas where the public may not expect to be under surveillance.
In general, signs should be more frequent and prominent where people are less likely to expect CCTV to be in use.
In exceptional cases where audio is being recorded, this should be clearly and unambiguously communicated.
Warning signs about video recording must be: clear and easy to read; contain information about the organization operating the video surveillance system; have sufficient physical dimensions that correspond to the content of the message — for example, intended for pedestrians or drivers.
Provision of video information
Provision of video information must also be controlled and consistent with the purpose for which it was originally implemented.
For example, if video surveillance was installed for the purpose of preventing and detecting criminal activity, video materials should be provided to law enforcement agencies investigating crimes, but it is prohibited to transfer identifiable video images of people to representatives of the media and post them on the Internet.
Only in special cases, to facilitate identification, images may be provided to the media, but in general this should be done by authorized representatives of law enforcement agencies.