Data Protection Act 1998

[dinefwr]

How many people are aware that the Data Protection Act 1998 only applies to non domestic systems?

I post this after reading some posts on a news goup.

Check list in pdf

[Service Engineer]

The introduction of the Data Protection Act means that most CCTV installations designed to provide either crime prevention, crime detection or to enhance the safety of the public will now have to comply with the requirements of the Act.

The Act applies to commercial and public CCTV systems only, so if your system is for your own private residence you do not need to comply with it.

But If your CCTV system includes a video recorder it is now a legal requirement that you operate that CCTV system in accordance with The Data Protection Act.

Requirements of the Act

You display warning signs to show that CCTV cameras are recording

You log all your recordings as well as who changes tapes and when

You label each tape

You keep all your recorded tapes and video cassette recorders secure

You register.

You notify the Information Commissioner at www.dataprotection.gov.uk or telephone 01625 545700, and pay a fee of £35.

What happens if I do not take the steps to comply?

The Information Commissioner and her team will be conducting inspections and checking for compliance as from October 24th 2001. You are legally obliged to comply and the penalty for non-compliance is a £5,000 fine initially, and an additional unlimited fine for a repeat offence.

[Guest Duterium]

What happens if you use a PC for example to record the CCTV footage, what happens then?

[Service Engineer]

CCTV footage stored on a standard pc is in admissable as evidence in a court of law, it cannot be used as evidence.

But theres no law against anyone doing this.

[Guest Duterium]

Hmm, interesting. It's good it gets you out of the data act, but i cant understand why the cant let you use it was edidence. Prolly as it could be doctored without anyone knowing.

However I am sure they must be some digital optial disk storage devices that can be used.

Pete

[dinefwr]

I've had to get images from tape and print them out for the police, but had to sign a statement that the images had been enhanced.

[secure4]

PC recorded evidence is submissible but only if the circumstances are right.

I hope I explain this correctly as I understand it.

When you use a video recorder you submit the original tape as evidence this is the media that was used to record the footage so it could not be doctored in any way. the actual name of it escapes me, its an evidence chain or trail (mental blank)

With PC evidence you have to record the footage to a different media, whether it be to video, cd or DVD thus you are breaking the chain of evidence. Its not being supplied in its original recorded format. This is why sometimes you can end up having your DVR or PC taken away in an evidence bag, YES i've seen it happen!

However, some manufacturers are now making digital watermarks or adding MD5 Checksums to the images recorded by digital equipment.

This means that if the image is needed for evidence it origin can be traces through the algorithms telling the police that the image was created at the time and from the machine stated.

Its a very grey area and even the enlarging of a photo can make evidence in-submissible because its not in its original form.

Someone correct me if im wrong but this is how I understand it.

[Steve K]

Continuity of evidence is the term you're thinking of!

[secure4]

thats the one, thanks.

[Guest Andyp]

Continuity or chain of evidence is the requirement for the Police and Criminal Evidence Act in order to confirm that the evidence hasn't been tampered with.

In certain cases that I have had involvement with, the police have been happy to receive a cd of the downloaded images (from a DS2) as long as you signed a statement confirming that the cd was original downloads and therefore primary evidence.

Andy