privacy in public spaces: video surveillance and public security in european cities apdcm.es

Data Protection Agency – Community of Madrid

Bologna, 28th June 2007

Video Surveillance and Security in European Cities

Privacy in Public Spaces:

Video Surveillance and Public Security in European Cities

www.apdcm.es




Video surveillance growing factors

- Greater concern for public safety

- Digitalization of cameras, video devices and control centres

- Greater affordability of surveillance devices

- Integration with traditional databases (i.e. vehicle owners) and image recognition technologies (i.e. Vehicle license plates)

- Towards a surveillance society?




Video surveillance in European cities

- Public Spaces and Governmental Buildings

- Metropolitan transport networks: buses, underground, etc...

- Schools

- Hospitals and health care centers

-Traffic and parking control, restricted circulation areas (Oslo, London, etc...)

- ….




Associated risks

- Unauthorized disclosure of images (Youtube and others). Purpose deviation (i.e. vendor/customer disputes)

- Combination with other privacy challenging technologies (RFID, GPS, image recognition, etc...)

- Illegal treatment of personal data (i.e., “usual suspects”)

- Invasion of professional privacy (i.e., workers supervised 100% of their working time)




Handling privacy risks

1. Videosurveillance: in most cases, a matter of Personal Data Protection

2. Data Protection Guarantees:

3.Declaration of treatment of images to National Data Protection Authorities

4.Information to individuals

5.Providing access to data protection rights (access, modification, erasure)

6.Data Quality and Security issues




Information to individuals

- Depending on the purpose: security related vs others

- Security related: simple information ads (in and out of VS areas and exercise of rights), area vs location of cameras, etc…

- Other purposes: sometimes individual information (i.e. specific health care facilities or services such as ER or psychiatrics)




Data Protection Rights and videosurveillance

- Applicability of Personal Data Protection Rights

- Determination of the identity of the data (image) subject

- Other peoples appearing in the images (third parties’ rights)

- Cancellation rights and storage periods

- Information on how to exercise rights




Data Quality and Security

- Purpose related collection and storage. Data (image) minimisation

- Limited storage periods

- Controlled access. Logs. Encryption

- Duty of secrecy. Personnel training on data protection issues

- Management, responsibilities (city and




Videosurveillance: an issue for Data Protection Authorities

- 28th International Conference of Privacy Commissioners, London, Nov. 2006 “A surveillance society?”

- Guidance and control actions by DPAs (i.e. Resolution on Video Surveillance by DPA Madrid, available at www.apdcm.es (option “Legislación”)




Functions of Madrid DPA

- Manage the Regional Registry of Files containing personal data (14.198 files, +7,8% in 2006)

- Make sure that the individuals’ rights can be exercised. Inspection. (169 actions in 2006, + 62%)

- Raise citizens’ awareness, train public employees and provide consulting services to data controllers (317 sessions and events in 2006, 4.000 participants)




International activities

- Dataprot project www.madrid.org/dataprot (EU program “Leonardo Da Vinci”): training for trainers in Data Protection (partners URJC, University of Lapland, University Hradec, DPA Berlin, etc…)

- Manager of the Prize to European Best Practices on Data Protection in Public Administrations (4th Edition in 2007)

- Leading partner of e-PRODAT www.eprodat.org: European Best Practices on Data Protection and e-Government

- Organizer of XIII Edition of the European Data Protection Case Handling Workshop www.wsmadrid2006.es

- Editor of www.dataprotectionreview.eu




Francisco José López Carmona

Deputy Director

[email protected]

privacy in public spaces: video surveillance and public security in european cities apdcm.es

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