Fax: +44 (0) 1725 513371
School Childrens CCTV Images on ebay
A recent test purchase on ebay by CCTV compliance specialist Video Management Service has revealed images of children in a school environment in direct contravention of Data Protection and Human Rights Legislation.
Brian Larkins a director of Video Management Services (VMS) said that ‘Recent CCTV audits that we have undertaken left us with a concern that their was little or no control of images held on redundant recording equipment hard drives’.
To test the theory VMS made a random purchase of a second-hand digital CCTV recorder on ebay. ‘We were not surprised to find the hard drive was full of images, but it was particularly disturbing to find they were of young children where schools have a legal and moral duty of care to keep images in a secure manner’.
Before video tape became redundant in favour of digital recording the images recorded to tape were at least restricted to 24 hours from individual tapes and these were encoded in such a way that playback was virtually impossible without specialist equipment. In the new digital age of CCTV a single hard drive incorporated in a recorder can hold weeks of high quality images in real time. Unless this is properly managed and processed a redundant machine can simply be plugged in and connected to a monitor to enable play back.
It has been stated by CameraWatch, an industry body that 90% of CCTV systems do not comply with the Data Protection Act and the new Home Office National CCTV strategy quotes ‘80% of CCTV systems are not fit for purpose’. Brian Larkins went on to say ‘Major Public Area Surveillance systems operated by local authorities and shopping centres are generally well run and comply with legislation, it is the small systems in, schools, retail and commercial environments that these figure refer to.
A simple check as to whether a CCTV system is likely to be compliant is; are there warning signs that state that CCTV is being operated and that these state the purpose of the system and the details of who to contact in the event of a query? The operator of the system must make available to the public a document stating the purpose, extent, processes etc relating to the system.
A little known fact is that individuals have a legal right to copies of recordings that feature them, under the terms of the Data Protection Act for a payment of £10
- Frequently Used Compliance Products
- Small Systems Compliance Package
- Control Room Compliance Package
- High Usage Evidence
Download Packages - Subject Right of Access
Packages - Control Room Management Documentation
- Statutory Information Signs
- Secure DVR Enclosures
- Video Tape
- VHS & Super VHS Compliance Packages
- Evidence Bags & Seals
