Information Commissioner rules against CCTV voice recordings

Recording people’s conversations on CCTV breaches privacy rules, according to the Information Commissioner, responding to public polls which indicate that most people agree.

 Seventy two per cent of people in Scotland oppose the idea of CCTV cameras which record their conversations, new research by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has revealed. In addition, 56% of Scots are aware that the Data Protection Act gives them rights relating to CCTV – a massive 20% higher than the awareness demonstrated by those surveyed in London and the South East.

The research coincides with the publication of the ICO’s CCTV code of practice, launched today at the Scottish Parliament. The code of practice describes the use of sound recording as ‘highly intrusive’ and warns organisations that recording people’s conversations would only ever be justified in highly exceptional circumstances. The code of practice outlines the key issues which organisations and businesses must consider when routinely capturing images of individuals on their CCTV equipment.

Ken Macdonald, Assistant Commissioner for Scotland at the ICO, said: “There are many benefits to using CCTV - such as helping with the detection of crime - and we know that CCTV enjoys a great deal of public support. However, there is the potential for CCTV systems to be extremely intrusive. Technological advances mean that cameras can record individuals’ conversations, but we see this as an unacceptable invasion of privacy. Organisations and businesses must use CCTV responsibly in order to maintain public trust. Part of this means ensuring that they are operating CCTV systems in compliance with the Data Protection Act – and our code helps them do just that.”

The code also provides advice on the retention and use of CCTV images and outlines some of the circumstances when it would be appropriate to disclose images captured by CCTV, including for example, to law enforcement bodies for the investigation of a crime.

Ken Macdonald and Richard Thomas, UK Information Commissioner, will launch the CCTV code of practice at the Scottish Parliament. Also attending the event will be representatives of a wide range of Scottish public and private sector bodies.

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