Companies whose premises have CCTV systems in operation
must alert the Information Commissioner that they are gathering
personal information about the people they are recording. They must
also put up signs to warn the public that recording is taking
place.
A new law will come into force in Scotland on 1st November
requiring those operating systems on a contract to have a separate
licence. The law, which is already in effect in England and Wales,
does not apply to operators working directly for the company whose
premises are being surveyed.
Bernie Brooks of CCTV compliance consultancy DatPro told OUT-LAW
Radio that he comes across few systems that operate within the
law.
"From my own my experience after personally surveying many, many
hundreds of buildings, I would say probably less than 5% are
compliant," said Brooks. "I would say that 95% are non-compliant in
one way, shape, form or another with the [Data Protection] Act.
Obviously that's quite a worrying thing. If the system is
non-compliant it could invalidate the usefulness of the evidence in
a court of law."
Brooks's assessment matches that of non-profit CCTV awareness
raising body Camerawatch. It said in June that its research showed
that over 90% of the UK's 4.2 million CCTV systems were not
compliant with the Data Protection Act.
"That has profound implications for the reputation of the CCTV
and camera surveillance industry and all concerned with it," said
Camerawatch chairman Gordon Ferrie in June.
The new law in Scotland could push even more systems into
illegal territory. The new licences for individuals is operated by
the Security Industry Authority (SIA).
"If you operate CCTV equipment monitoring public or private
space and you are monitoring members of the public then it is
likely you will need a SIA licence," said SIA head of
investigations Jennifer Pattinson. "The reason for licensing is to
remove the criminal element from the private security industry but
also to improve levels of training and professionalism in the
industry."
People who work directly for the firm which owns the monitored
premises do not need a licence. Pattinson said that this was
because companies which directly employ security workers are likely
to conduct the kind of thorough background checks that it does when
issuing a licence.
The news that almost all systems are likely to operate illegally
will raise questions about the effectiveness of CCTV.
The news follows the revelation last week that London's dense
network of CCTV cameras may not have an effect on the solving of
crimes. An analysis of London's 10,000 cameras showed that boroughs
with many cameras had no better crime-solving statistics than those
with few cameras.
