Personal CCTV and the law

[Funkstar]

What are the guidelines for installing CCTV cameras on your own property?

I'm thinking about installing a couple at home for a couple of different reasons. However, the front door is right on the pavement, there is no front garden. I would really like to get the front door covered, as well as our cars, one parks on the pavement in front of our side gate, the other right outside the door.

Is this going to cause a problem? I don't mind putting a small sign in the window to notify people of that's what is required.

Thanks for the input

[XA04]

Not sure but I've had trouble with my car in the past so I installed one facing on to the street anyway. AFAIK it's legal to take pictures and record video in a public place... so I don't see why CCTV should be any different. Also I had to give some footage to the police about an incident and they were more than happy to take it.

[jackobyte]

some links for you on legal obligations for you seems ok as long as you put notice up etc and check with your local council office.
Oh and you DON'T work for Google earth......

http://www.idealcctv.co.uk/legal.html

http://www.jabbakam.com/mrwickessecu...n-cctv-system/

http://www.info4security.com/hybrid....=3&navcode=412

http://www.problemneighbours.co.uk/c...d-the-law.html

the google search line
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...&aqi=&aql=&oq=

hope this helps

[Funkstar]

Thanks for the links.

I know I could have googled, but for things like this I'm never sure if the advise you search for is correct.

I'll take a good look at those later.

[TheAnimus]

There is another issue to be careful of, and that is private property.

If you've a wide angle camera which is looking into someone elses private property its understandably not great.

A neighbor of mine who has told me on many occasions how he thinks his profession allows him to know the law, put one up illegally in our small block of flats.....

So don't be a douche, if there is any chance your going to encrouch someone elses space ask em first!

[Saracen]

What are the guidelines for installing CCTV cameras on your own property?

I'm thinking about installing a couple at home for a couple of different reasons. However, the front door is right on the pavement, there is no front garden. I would really like to get the front door covered, as well as our cars, one parks on the pavement in front of our side gate, the other right outside the door.

Is this going to cause a problem? I don't mind putting a small sign in the window to notify people of that's what is required.

Thanks for the input

The first and main law you need to consider is the Data Protection Act. Generally, domestic CCTV systems aren't covered by the DPA, provided it's being used for the purposes you implied, that being security and prevention of criminal activity, like burglary or getting your car nicked.

But, you should keep the coverage of the cameras to your own property, or at least, in so far as is practical. Covering your garden, for instance, is fine, and it would generally also be fine if there was incidental coverage of bits of neighbour's property or public streets.

However, the Human Rights Act gives a right to expectation of privacy, so you'd be well-advised to be sure your camera isn't pointing at your neighbour's bedroom windows, or even to where they may, for instance, sunbathe. If you do, you may be subject to legal action by them.

As long as your usage is such as to be exempt from the DPA, you would also not need to put up notices .... though they may be a good deterrent.

On a practical level, it might be worth talking to neighbours, explaining to them what you're doing and if there's a property overlap (or a perception of one) show them the coverage of the cameras. If they have real and reasonable objections, it may just be best to tweak the camera angles a bit to avoid contention.

All IMHO, and with the usual IANAL caveat, and the advice that, if in doubt, get legal confirmation. Maybe talk to the Information Commissioner's office (or read their CCTV Code of Practice (mainly for non-domestic premises) and guidance notes), and/or your local police, and/or a solicitor.

Oh, and the material you record .... you'd be well advised to only retain it for as long as is necessary for the purposes you recorded it for (i.e. security, etc), and to provide copies to the police and nobody else, and only in the event of it capturing criminal activity. Don't start uploading it to the net, because that can be a bit outside the "limited domestic purposes) that gives you DPA exemption.



Also, be aware that the requirements for CCTV to be admitted into court as evidence are pretty strict, and a simple domestic system probably won't qualify. You need decent quality, accurate timecodes, a provenance of the material ensuring no ability for it to be edited, etc. So for security purposes, police may well be interested in footage for it's intelligence value to them, but from simple domestic systems, it's not likely to help in court.

[Dareos]

on a side note, how cute are your neighbours?

[mcmiller]

what about if you walk the streets recording ?

[Funkstar]

I'll check up with the local authorities, but I think I'll be able to cover what I need without getting other properties in frame as well.

I probably do have a justifiable reason for the CCTV, however I'm not going into that here. I'm not worried about the footage being admissible in court, just as information to the police in the event it is required.

For recording I'll be using a Thecus NAS box that has CCTV archiving software included, I just need to find a couple of ethernet cameras that will work with it.

Thanks for the advice and input guys

[Saracen]

what about if you walk the streets recording ?

Much the same. The DPA doesn't apply, certainly not to personal usage. There's generally no expectation of privacy in public places so that shouldn't be an issue. There are potentially some problems with Anti-terror laws, or at least, the way some police have been interpreting them, though as I understand it, one of the more oppressive clauses has been (or is being) removed. It's also not a good idea to try filming through someone's household windows and claim it's okay because you were walking the streets.

Also, while some streets are public places, some that might appear to be public places and fully open are actually private property. Just because there's no gate or fence doesn't mean a place is a public place, and the owners of private property have the right to restrict filming, still or video, on it. If you are on such private property, you are there at the owner's tolerance, and (within t the bounds of law) subject to their rules and restrictions. If you breach those rules, the permission to be there is removed and you are trespassing.

Finally, depending on what you mean by filming while "walking the streets", I'd have though the very last thing most "street walkers" wanted was someone filming their business activities.

[DeludedGuy]

Great thread here.

Just another question about filming in public, is it illegal to video someone driving their car, showing their license plate, showing their face without their permission and then uploading it to Youtube where thousands of people will be able to view it?

[peterb]

Sracen is more authoratitive than I am, but I would say it is not illegal (in that the person has committed an unlawful act) unless publishing it prejudices an ongoing or pending court case when contempt of court might be applicable.

Otherwise reporting the post to youtube might get it taken down, or failing that, obtaining a civil court injunction, if the person can demonstrate a good reason why it should be removed. But driving a car in a public place, with licence plates visible can be seen by anyone anyway, the number of people that can see it would (to me) seem to be irrelevant. But I am not a lawyer!

[Saracen]

Great thread here.

Just another question about filming in public, is it illegal to video someone driving their car, showing their license plate, showing their face without their permission and then uploading it to Youtube where thousands of people will be able to view it?

Not that I'm aware of. A lot comes back to the point I made earlier, that there's no general cause to expect privacy in a public place, so when in public, people shouldn't be doing things they expect to keep private.

The only complication I can think of, off the top of my head, is that if you use pictures (and I assume video too) of identifiable individuals in a commercial way, then you risk complications if you don't have their permission. For instance, if you used a shot of a famous footballer or actress coming out of a nightclub to promote the club, and imply an endorsement from them, you'd probably get an irate communication from their lawyers. It's why photographers (and, I assume, videographers) insist on model releases for that kind of work, and it's why photo agencies often won't take pics without one. At the very least, it's a sensible precaution.

Of course, there are exceptions to that. One of them relates to news reporting and journalism, where a lot of leeway is granted. And if it wasn't, we'd never see a paparazzi shot again.

So, in direct answer to the question ....

1) I'm nowhere near the authority Peter kindly implies
2) It could well depend on the circumstances
3) If in doubt, get legal advice, and certainly don't rely on me.