Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Human Rights Act for CCTV


It is possible that CCTV usage could well be viewed as a possible infringement/invasion of your Human Rights under the Human Rights Act 1998.

So what do you do if your Neighbor is pointing their CCTV at you?
The Human Rights Act of 1998 could assist you and we would advise you to gain thorough advice from a solicitor who has expert specialist knowledge in this area.

The right contained in Article 8 is known as a qualified right which means that there may be circumstances in which some interference with it is justifiable. This right means that an individual has the right to the level of personal privacy which is compatible with a democratic society, taking into account the equivalent rights and freedoms of others. Any interference with this right by a public authority may be subject to a test of acceptability.

The state and public authorities are permitted to interfere with an individual’s Article 8 right to privacy if the interference has an obvious legal justification. Amongst other reasons, this could be because the interference is necessary to protect national security or for the prevention of crime. In addition to having a clear legal justification, the amount of interference with the right must be proportionate to the end result achieved and only go as far as is required to achieve that result.

Public authorities, including the police and local councils, must balance the benefits of using CCTV against an individual’s right to privacy.
The HRA is superior to all other legislation and should always take first preference. We advise you to seek specialized knowledge from a Solicitor who is an expert within Human Rights Issues and Legislation, it is an extremely complex area of legislation.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

ANY RULES IN INDIA ?

Anonymous said...

The Data Protection Act
In 1998 the Data Protection Act outlined the responsibilities of those using CCTV. However, because the DPA was designed to protect individual privacy, its guidelines do not apply to all CCTV cameras.

Provided you can show that you are not using the camera to analyse the behaviour (and invade the privacy) of any one individual, then you are entitled to put a CCTV camera anywhere on your premises. If, for instance, the owner of a small newsagent installed a CCTV camera above the till and recorded everything to a tape in case of robbery, this would not usually be relevant to the DPA as it does note violate privacy.

In a domestic context, invasion of privacy is in fact not an issue that affects privately owned CCTV. It is only an 'offence' under the Human Rights Act and that act only applies to the State. i.e. The Government, local government, police, parish councils, Health Care Trusts etc. In other words, an individual cannot infringe the human rights of another individual - in this case, the right to privacy.

A common scenario of privacy invasion using CCTV is when someone uses CCTV cameras to view their neighbour's property. As this is not actually an offence, the police will usually have to resort to using the Harassment Act to resolve the matter.

However, where CCTV cameras are installed specifically to monitor behaviour, identify potential criminals and track individuals, for privacy purposes they must be registered with the Information Commission. These cameras are subject to the DPA.

The DPA ensures that footage is reasonably captured and kept; it should be viewed by a designated staff member and not made widely available. The DPA also requires that the footage be made available to its subjects, where appropriate, and if requested. If you have installed CCTV cameras that will be subject to the DPA (i.e. you’re capturing information of certain individuals) then you can read the Information Commission’s Good Practice Guide online.

Anonymous said...

My neighbour has installed 4 CCTV cameras on his property, one of theses overlooks my property including my bedroom and garden. What rights do I have to have this removed.

Arindam Bhadra said...

If your neighbour’s camera is installed on their residential property and being used for their own personal domestic use, they are unlikely to be breaching the Data Protection Act. This is because the use of CCTV cameras for domestic security purposes is exempt from the data protection principles. This applies when a person uses CCTV to protect their home from burglary, even if the camera overlooks the street or other areas near their home.

Arindam Bhadra said...

Users of small systems or home systems which contain less than 3 cameras, which are not remotely operated i.e. they cannot be moved left / right and zoomed from a controller away from the camera, and the information gathered is passed to no-one but the Police, have no requirement to register with the UK Information Commissioner (Data Protection Act 1998), nor place signs, keep tape records etc although placing signage can assist as a deterrent.
Under the Data Protection legislation (Data Protection Act 1998) CCTV installations within domestic premises do not require to be registered with the Information Commissioner, formerly the Data Protection Registrar. There is therefore no requirement to keep records of recordings or place signage around the premises where CCTV is being used.

Arindam Bhadra said...

CCTV schemes that process data about a known person are obliged to conform to certain legislation, most importantly the Data Protection Act, 1998 (DPA), the Human Rights Act, 1998 (HRA) and the Freedom of Information Act. BSI’s standards are designed to supplement that legislation. They give recommendations for the operation and management of CCTV and assists owners of CCTV schemes to follow best practices in obtaining reliable information that may be used as evidence.


BS 7958:2009
Closed-circuit television (CCTV). Management and operation. Code of practice

BS 8418:2003
Installation and remote monitoring of detector activated CCTV systems. Code of practice

BS EN 50132-5:2001
Alarm systems. CCTV surveillance systems for use in security applications. Video transmission.


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Security Cameras said...

Of course privacy has to be respected but for general safety their should be amicability and more acceptance for the process if that is for the benefit and not hurting the private sentiments of your neighbor.

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