EU: Guidelines on Video Surveillance

On March 17, 2010, Peter Hustings, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), published guidelines on video surveillance.

The target group of these guidelines are European institutions. Nevertheless, the regulations that have been established also have radiant effect on video surveillance in private companies, at least regarding their evaluation content.

In the press release of March 17, 2010, Giovanni Buttarelli, an assistant to the EDPS, stated that "fundamental rights are being affected (primarily regarding identity rights) through video surveillance measures, particularly at the workplace. As such, video surveillance might not be justified solely for security reasons. These legitimate interests must at least stand in an appropriate relationship with the identity rights of the parties concerned. The goal is to install video surveillance that corresponds to security demands but also protects the identity rights of the parties concerned. "

In the associated FAQ, the EDPS noted the particular risks of video surveillance, by example:

• Digital recordings can be easily copied and distributed

• Live images can be transmitted over networks (particularly the Internet) to various locations and persons

• Digital recordings can be stored, indexed and evaluated for an unlimited period of time

• Intelligent systems can compare video images with stored images of persons

• Video technology is becoming increasingly more efficient. As such, infrared cameras and heat image cameras can operate in the dark and can analyze walls and clothing, without the parties concerned noticing this.

Facing this facts, the EDPS regards a prior inspection, in various cases, as necessary. As examples, the following individual cases are specified:

• Monitoring of individuals, in particular employees

• Processing of especially personal data (e.g., photographs in waiting areas of hospitals and doctors' offices)

• Areas in which people assume a particular privacy (social areas such as cafeterias, but also individual offices or cubicles)

• Integration of video surveillance of different companies

• Generally during speech recording

With these principles, the EDPS has set up clear requirements for video surveillance and has particularly endorsed prior inspection of the installations in the various scenarios.

For the installation of video surveillance, companies should rely on the technical instruction of the company's data protection officer and consider the necessity of surveillance in respect of alternatives.