PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS
cameras, Lawful use of CCTV
Lights,
With public distrust of surveillance at a high Matthew Orme, a barrister with Bates, Wells & Braithwaite, explains how the Data Protection Act should be interpreted by parking operators
ACTION C
CTV and ANPR cameras are under the spotlight at the moment. For one, the Home Offi ce is consulting on a
draft Surveillance Camera Code of Practice. This is part of a wider public focus on CCTV/ ANPR usage. While such systems provide valuable data for parking operators, it is often ‘personal data’, and must be used lawfully. So how does the law apply to CCTV/ANPR? The main legislation is the Data Protection Act 1998, which covers organisations’ use of personal data. This is data referring to a living individual, which enables them to be identifi ed. The individual might be identifi able from the data alone, or by referring to other data held by an organisation. For example, a driver’s name and address are personal data, as is data about when the driver entered and exited a car park. If a person is identifi able from a camera image, then the image contains their personal data. Vehicle registration marks held by parking operators may be personal data about the vehicles registered keeper, or about a driver if the operator can connect them to the mark. The Act places obligations on ‘data controllers’ – organisations that decide how and for what purposes personal data are used. Data controllers must notify the Information Commissioner’s offi ce annually that they are acting as such. Organisations that only handle the data on someone else’s behalf for their defi ned purposes, for example under a contract with a car park landowner, are likely to be ‘data processors’ and not subject to the Act (for that data at least). Data processors may still be fi nancially
30 MARCH 2013
liable to the data controller if they cause breaches of the Act. Landowners who engage parking operators should ensure their contract with the operator has appropriate data protection clauses about compliance with the Act, and protection for the landowner if the operator causes a breach.
How should data be handled? Data controllers must always comply with the data protection principles set out in the Act. These include that the use must be “fair and lawful” and only for the purposes for which the data was obtained. Personal data must also only be used in circumstances permitted by the Act. These include where the individual has consented to the use of their personal data, or where the use is necessary in relation to a contract, such as a contract for parking. This makes parking signs important. Signs are likely to determine the terms that an individual is deemed to have consented to, and so form part of a contract to park.
www.britishparking.co.uk
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