Understanding Domestic CCTV Law

Posted on: February 12th, 2018 in CCTV Systems, General by Active

Manoeuvring the landscape of installing a domestic CCTV system can be difficult, especially when considering the legislation around the subject. You must consider the Data Protection Act and the Human Rights Act in order to ensure you are taking into consideration the privacy of those that are affected.

Here at Taybell, we are experts in the security field, so we are going to run you through the basics for understanding domestic CCTV law in this blog post.

Overarching

The overarching consensus in regards to ensuring you are on the right side of domestic CCTV law is to ensure your use of security cameras is justified and reasonable. This means that you shouldn’t store excessive amounts of data, or have tens of cameras. You should also be considerate and reasonable with the placement of your cameras: focusing on your home and not neighbours or public spaces. You should also consider whether security cameras are truly necessary, or whether another measure may be more appropriate (more lights, an alarm, or locks, for example).

Essentially, you’re looking to strip the capture of data back to the minimum and ensure that the general public and local community are not affected by your CCTV system. If they are, or possibly could be, it’s essential that you open a dialogue with them, explain your motivations and make sure they are happy for you to be using CCTV cameras.

Privacy

Privacy is an essential subject when discussing CCTV law. If you’re thinking of installing a CCTV system, you must first consider the implications of this on your community. As aforementioned, the overall consideration to make is that your use of cameras is just. You should also only keep the data collected as long as absolutely necessary, after which it should be securely and definitely destroyed; the data itself must also be stored securely in the meantime. This means that no unauthorised access should be granted, and all of those with access must understand that this footage is not to be tampered with or used inappropriately.

Breaking these rules can result in getting embroiled, which can lead to a court charge and even prison time in some cases, so it’s imperative for you to respect the privacy of those that could be affected by your security system.

Responsibility

Your responsibility when installing domestic CCTV is to maintain a sense of understanding as to what you could be subjecting people to. You should consider their opinion towards surveillance, and consult those that are explicitly impacted. Some other precautions to take are to let people know you’re using a CCTV system, with a sign and even conversation.

After you have considered all of these aspects, you are ready to install a security camera system that is compliant with CCTV law.

Finally, the law for domestic and commercial CCTV systems differ vastly. The information in this blog post, then, cannot be applied to your commercial CCTV cameras.

Taybell

Here at Taybell, we have a wealth of experience in the installation and maintenance of CCTV systems for domestic and commercial customers alike. What’s more, we are also compliant with the regulations and legislation surrounding CCTV.

If you are located in Leeds, York, Harrogate and Wetherby, and would like to hear more about what we can provide to improve the security of your home, please get in touch by calling us on 0113 230 4018 or filling out our simple contact form.

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