Data Protection Act advice

Do you need to register for the Data Protection Act for your CCTV System?

It all seems to be a bit confusing, which is due to a court case where the Judge ruled that not all CCTV data comes within the Data Protection Act. It's mainly to do with defining an individual or specific individuals rather than an anonymous bunch of people.

• If any of your cameras have a pan, tilt or zoom facility, then you need to register
• If you use any of your cameras to check on specific persons, e.g. staff members, then you need to register
• If you ever show the recorded images to anyone other than the police, then you need to register

Recording general scenes of activity do not require registration. Random members of the public are not considered to be data subjects unless there is a specific person who is being recorded, but if there are occasions where the system is used for targeting an individual, e.g. making sure a member of staff is performing correctly, then registration is required.

If the system is normally used for general surveillance with no particular person in mind, but then there are times when a certain person will be targeted, then that person comes within the Act, but the others do not. Therefore, you must register, but any member of the public who is not targeted specifically does not have the right to have access to recorded data.

If you're not liable to register, for £35 a year you might consider registering in any case, on the assumption that there might be times when a specific person needs to be recorded.  A known shoplifter might be the focus for your recordings, for example.

If in doubt, call the Data Commissioner's Office 01625 545745

You should have a suitable management system to control your CCTV activities whether you are registered or not.