CCTV

More and more customers are installing CCTV including fixed cameras or smart doorbells and they may not always be aware of the implications or obligations that come with it.

We recognise that having security cameras installed at your home can make you feel safer. However, we also recognise that your neighbour(s) may feel that security cameras on your home are intrusive and invade their privacy.

There are some key points to consider around installing CCTV.

 

What to do if you want to install CCTV on your home

You always need to request permission from us to install CCTV on external walls of your house or a flat.

Before you do this, think about the problem you’re trying to resolve by installing CCTV.

Contact the local police for advice about crime prevention. Better locks or security lights may be a more effective way of securing your property.

Where possible, owners should position their cameras to only capture up to the boundary of their property. If this is not possible and your camera is capturing any of the spaces listed below, you need to follow the ICO’s Home CCTV Guidance:

  • Public space such as the pavement or the street
  • Other properties such as your neighbour’s garden or house
  • Any shared spaces such as communal entrances, corridors or gardens 

 

 Data Protection law says that people who capture images or audio recordings from outside their property boundary must:

·       Have a clear reason for using the CCTV

·       Make sure the CCTV doesn’t capture more than they need to

·       Let people know they are using CCTV (e.g. by displaying a sign informing recording is taking place)

·       In most cases, provide some of the recordings if asked by a person whose image or audio, or both, the CCTV has captured

·       Delete the footage regularly or automatically, or both; and

·       Stop recording a person if they object to being recorded and there’s no legitimate reason to continue recording them.

If you don’t follow this guidance, you could be breaking the law.

 

Any CCTV which records images beyond the boundary of your own home, for example a neighbour's garden, is likely to mean the CCTV is not exempt from the Data Protection Act as a domestic installation. This means you would need to justify the reason for the installation to us when you seek a permission for installation of CCTV system or to the Information Commissioner Office (ICO) if anybody makes a complaint about your CCTV recording to them.  If we find that your lawful basis for installing a camera does not outweigh the rights and freedoms of people you will be recording or that it will be too intrusive, particularly inside of a block of flats, as a landlord we reserve a right to decline your request for installation.

The regulator is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and recommends that you use CCTV in a responsible way to protect the privacy of others.

casework@ico.org.uk or call 0303 123 1113.

 

If there is an incident 

In certain circumstances, the information you record may be used as evidence. You should bear in mind that: 

  • if your system captures information of an incident, it could be used by the police to aid an investigation

If you are unhappy about the use of a domestic CCTV system by a neighbour, use the ICO’s site page on CCTV to learn more about your rights.