Nightview camera

[Guest securityconsultant]

Contact your local crime prevention officer or you might just find any evidence you get can't be used due to the good old DPA.

You cant go out of your way to spy on next door all you can saftly do is watch your own property but if your cars on a public road then full dpa is needed

[Rich]

Contact your local crime prevention officer or you might just find any evidence you get can't be used due to the good old DPA.

You cant go out of your way to spy on next door all you can saftly do is watch your own property but if your cars on a public road then full dpa is needed

42439[/snapback]

He wants to install a covert system which is to be temporary, to monitor his own car.

How many coverts have you guys installed and insisted on fitting signs up warning people?

Data protection is the protection of Data, It is more focused on what happens to the recordings.

A judgment is to be made on the images captured, If the camera is set so that the person being recorder is 80% to 120% then that would be classed as specific information on an idividual, therefore I believe the DPA would apply. As its a temporary covert system then basically you would document the uses, and make sure the tapes are only accessable by the operator, not passed to anyonme else apart from the police.

To ensure the images are captured in a manner prescribed the location of cameras must be carefully considered.

1. The equipment should be used to only monitor the intended spaces.

2. Owners and residents of domestic premises must be consulted if domestic premises border the intended area to be viewed. (Not mandatory but good practice)

3. Those operating the system must be aware of its purpose and only use it for its specified purpose.

4. The cameras must be restricted where practicable so that those operating the system cannot overlook spaces that are not intended to be viewed.

5. Signs, which are clearly visible and legible, should be displayed so that the public are aware they are entering an area covered by CCTV.

6. Specific information should be included on the sign

o Identity of who is responsible for the scheme

o The purpose of the scheme

o Details of who to contact regarding the scheme

7. If signs are not appropriate and monitoring is for a specific CRIMINAL activity:

o Fully document the following steps

o Identify the specific criminal activity

o Identify there is a need to use surveillance to obtain evidence of that activity and whether the use of signs would prejudice success in obtaining such evidence

o To ensure it is not carried out for longer than necessary, assess how long covert monitoring should take place

[Rich]

I will eventually be creating a full breakdown of gathered information regarding CCTV and the DPA, there are many version about and there seems to be alot of confusion regarding this.

Additional Guidance.

http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/...nal%20guide.pdf

DPA CCTV Code of practice.

http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/...ds/cctvcop1.pdf

CCTV Informations interpretation

http://www.cctv-information.co.uk/dataprot/dpacctv.html

[Rich]

I contacted Robyn Sones of www.cctv-information.co.uk about this and if you have masked your neighbours area from view then unless you were tracking an individual rather than monitoring a fixed area or object you are most likely exempt from the Data Protection Act, However he did comment that this is still a grey area, As you can probably tell from the mixed responses.

A DPA - Self assessment document is available for end users from the cctv-information site and for installers they have available a CD Rom with full information on how to comply with the Data Protection Act complete with animation's and video clips.

More importantly, it also contains all of the templates, forms and information needed to create your own Data Protection Policy Document be fully compliant with The Act. Contact Robyn via his site if you are interested.

Hope that is of some help.

[Doktor Jon]

(Service Engineer Posted Mar 3 2005, 11:40 PM)

Are you for real.

As soon as you connect a camera to any recorder, then the Data protection act applies unless you are covering no more than your own premises. As soon as you start peering over your own premises perimeter you need to consider the DPA.

Er, yes I am for real .... at least I was the last time I looked.

Now there's two things I could suggest which might help clarify the position regarding the Data Protection Act.

Firstly have a look at this news article http://www.doktorjon.co.uk/news%20and%20vi...wsstories5.html

the contents of which are based on a detailed written interview which I conducted with the Office of the Information Commissioner last year.

Secondly, if you don't believe me, why not pick up the phone and request clarification from the I.C. directly. They are very nice people, and would you believe it, they also know what they're talking about when it comes to Data Protection Principles and CCTV.

As it stands, no DPA compliant signage is required for domestic use, no data subjects right of access to recorded material, and perhaps more worryingly, absolutely no way of stopping nosy neighbours from watching your every move using CCTV, unless you want to take out a private prosecution for harrassment; The DPA has absolutely no control over the Home use of CCTV.

So there you have it - no grey areas, no confusion, the law is the law, and unless a very senior member of staff at the IC office has been telling me porky pies, that's the state of play at the moment. If anyone knows better than the Office of the Information Commissioner, let me know and I'll post it up on my website.

[amateurandy]

Interesting subject; I'm very familiar with the DPA and guidance, but regarding computers, not CCTV. It didn't take long to find this comment on the Information Commisionners web site:

"It is likely that the use of cameras by individuals to protect their own property is excluded from the provisions of the Act under the exemption at Section 36 of the Act."

Note that this doesn't define property, but I guess it would include your car parked on the road by your house.

But, you maybe couldn't use it as evidence for damage against your neighbours car. :!:

[Guest DRW]

Well I've decided to speak to the local crime prevention department before doing anything

[Guest DRW]

Well, the police crime prevention officer has phoned me back, and it sounds like all is well.

Although he was keen to point out it's very much a grey area, he backs up what's already been said

[secure4]

OK, if your filimg this from a distance you will get nothing that could be used as evidence unless you can actually see the car unscratched before and scratched after the person has passed the car and also see the person clearly. All they would have to say is that they were walking past.

If its parked on the public highway then you wouldnt have a leeg to stand on, as they obviously have a reason to do this. If it was parked on your driveway, it would be a different matter.

The only way you would be able to prove that the car was damage by x person is to install a camera in the car or wing mirror looking along the car, you could then see clearly what was going on and who was causing the damage. You could either save this information to a portable DVR, or transmit it back to a recording source in your house, personally i would spend the money and get a portable DVR.

I was going to have a rant about the other info given on here for this situation but im not going to bother. Oh, and in another case siilar to this once the guy was caught and admitted it he had to cough up £20,000 in damages!