Monitoring in private places

Video monitoring systems are often placed in private places that are used by or belong to private individuals or institutions and may also be publicly accessible to a certain extent. These may, for example, be shopping centers, private schools, private hospitals or the offices of different private entities. Video surveillance is not acceptable in places where persons expect a higher level of privacy, such as in toilets and fitting rooms.

Video monitoring is only allowed in private places in the specific situations listed exhaustively in the General Data Protection Regulation.

Informed monitoring & Consent

Note that by entering a private place where a video monitoring policy is in place, you have expressed your consent to this policy. Therefore, you have to be informed that video monitoring is taking place for your consent to be valid. This is usually done by using informative symbols and signs. The person or institution responsible has to inform you about the purpose of and the method of the surveillance mechanism, and indicate the institution which is processing your data. This information is usually given in the informative description.

Proportionality

Even if you have consented to be subject to the video surveillance in a private place, the monitoring, recording and subsequent processing of the footage that reveals your image should be proportionate, in other words, necessary and suitable for the particular purpose, and not of an extensive scope. Namely, additional data, not necessary for the protection of other legitimate interests should not be gathered. Videos depicting you shall not be kept longer than necessary or further processed for other purposes than initially determined. In such cases, your consent for subsequent actions is required.

Disclosure

Videos depicting you shall not be disclosed to other persons without your consent, except in the specific situations listed exhaustively by law.

If you believe that the video monitoring has been unlawful and/or disproportionate, you have the right to complain. Read more about the complaint procedures.

Read more about the disclosure of a video with your image.
Read more about video surveillance in the context of a crime.
Read more about video surveillance in the workplace.

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