Closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance is an increasing feature
of our daily lives. There is an ongoing debate over how effective CCTV
is in reducing and preventing crime, but one thing is certain, its
deployment is commonplace in a variety of areas to which members of the
public have free access. We might be caught on camera while walking
down the high street, visiting a shop or bank or travelling through a
railway station or airport. The House of Lords Select Committee on
Science and Technology expressed their view that if public confidence
in CCTV systems was to be maintained there needed to be some tighter
control over their deployment and use (5th Report - Digital Images as
Evidence).
There was no statutory basis for systematic legal
control of CCTV surveillance over public areas until 1 March 2000 when
the Data Protection Act came into force. The definitions in this new
Act are broader than those of the Data Protection Act 1984 and so more
readily cover the processing of images of individuals caught by CCTV
cameras than did the previous data protection legislation. The same
legally enforceable information handling standards as have previously
applied to those processing personal data on computer now cover CCTV.
An important new feature of the recent legislation is a power for me to
issue a Commissioner's Code of Practice (section 51(3)(b) DPA '98)
setting out guidance for the following of good practice. In my 14th
Annual Report to Parliament I signalled my intention to use this power
to provide guidance on the operation of CCTV as soon as those new
powers became available to me. This Code of Practice is the first
Commissioner's Code to be issued under the Data Protection Act 1998.
This code deals with surveillance in
areas to which the public have largely free and unrestricted access
because, as the House of Lords Committee highlighted, there is
particular concern about a lack of regulation and central guidance in
this area. Although the Data Protection Act 1998 covers other uses of
CCTV this Code addresses the area of widest concern. Many of its
provisions will be relevant to other uses of CCTV and will be referred
to as appropriate when we develop other guidance. There are some
existing standards that have been developed by representatives of CCTV
system operators and, more particularly, the British Standards
Institute. While such standards are helpful, they are not legally
enforceable. The changes in data protection legislation mean that for
the first time legally enforceable standards will apply to the
collection and processing of images relating to individuals.
This Code of Practice has the dual
purpose of assisting operators of CCTV systems to understand their
legal obligations while also reassuring the public about the safeguards
that should be in place. It sets out the measures which must be adopted
to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998, and goes on to set out
guidance for the following of good data protection practice. The Code
makes clear the standards which must be followed to ensure compliance
with the Data Protection Act 1998 and then indicates those which are
not a strict legal requirement but do represent the following of good
practice.
Before issuing this Code I consulted
representatives of relevant data controllers and data subjects, and
published a draft copy of the Code on my website. I am grateful to all
those consultees who responded and have taken account of their comments
in producing this version.
Our experience of the Codes of Practice
which were put forward under the 1984 Act was that they needed to
remain relevant to the day to day activities of data controllers. They
need to be 'living' documents, which are updated as practices, and
understanding of the law develops.
This code will therefore be kept under
review to ensure that it remains relevant in the context of changing
technology, use and jurisprudence. In this context it is likely that
the Human Rights Act 1998, which comes into force on 2 October 2000,
and provides important legal safeguards for individuals, will lead to
developments in legal interpretation which will require review of the
Code.
It is my intention that this Code of
Practice should help those operating CCTV schemes monitoring members of
the public to do so in full compliance of the Data Protection Act 1998
and in adherence to high standards of good practice. There does seem to
be public support for the widespread deployment of this surveillance
technology, but public confidence has to be earned and maintained.
Compliance with this Code will not only help CCTV scheme operators'
process personal data in compliance with the law but also help to
maintain that public confidence without which they cannot operate.
Elizabeth France
Data Protection Commissioner
July 2000
Note: This information was taken from the Data
Protection website and remains the copyright of the Information
Commissioner. You may view the full version of this document on the
Information Commissioners' website at www.dataprotection.gov.uk or call their enquiry/information line on 01625 545 745
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