28 March 2012
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Italy
Data protection ombudsman issues guidelines for video-surveillance
On 20 May 2004, the Italian data protection ombudsman issued
guidelines for the installing of surveillance cameras. Before
setting up the video-surveillance systems, there must be an assessment
of whether the measure is proportional to the objectives that
are pursued, and whether alternative measures (alarms or other
forms of checks) would be inadequate or impossible to put in
place. Cameras whose recordings allow the identification of individuals
can only be used if there is an actual need to identify the people
in question, that is, if the purpose of the surveillance cannot
be achieved by collecting anonymous data. People passing through
an area where video-surveillance is carried out, must be informed
of this, of who is responsible for the surveillance, and of what
its purpose is. If the images are recorded, they must only be
stored for a limited period: a few hours, or 24 hours at the
most, unless an extension in this period is required to pursue
investigations; specific businesses that are subject to particular
threats, such as banks, may be allowed to store images for a
longer period, but it must never be longer than a week. The installing
of video-surveillance systems whose recorded images will be cross-referenced
with other data such as biometrics or voice recognition, or digitalised
to be used alongside technology to examine physical features,
such as face recognition systems, will be subject to a preliminary
assessment by the ombudsman. The creation of databases is to
be strictly limited when it is sufficient to install a CCTV system
that is only for viewing, without a need to record images.
Public authorities may only carry out video-surveillance activities
if these are necessary to fulfil their institutional functions,
in areas that fall within their competencies; the ombudsman notes
that some local council authorities have taken the initiative
of unduly installing them for public security reasons, or to
prevent and investigate criminal activity, when these are areas
that fall within the competencies of the judiciary or police
forces. If an administration's competencies include the maintenance
of public safety and crime prevention, the use of video-surveillance
systems must nonetheless be a "proportionate" response
to an "actual necessity" to prevent or counter concrete
threats. The wholesale video-surveillance of entire areas in
a city is not allowed. The presence of cameras on some public
transport vehicles, religious or burial sites is to be allowed,
subject to certain guidelines, but video-surveillance systems
must not be used for the supervision of minor offences (such
as smoking bans, prohibitions of walking on the grass, etc.).
In the case of private use, the use of video-surveillance systems
must either be indispensable to comply with legal requirements,
or to defend a legitimate interest to protect people and property
against aggressions, theft, vandalism, robberies, fire safety,
etc. Video-surveillance in developments with multiple owners
(such as a block of flats owned by different persons, or a group
of neighbouring houses) is allowed to avoid dangerous situations
arising for the safety of persons and to protect property. Individual
private subjects installing cameras must ensure that the angle
of the cameras exclusively affects the area affecting their own
property, without capturing images from communal areas, or those
affecting their neighbours. The surveillance of workers by their
employers is "absolutely forbidden" in their workplace
or in other places where they carry out their work, and cameras
cannot be installed in places that are not destined for work
(such as bathrooms, changing rooms etc.). In hospitals, the use
of cameras is allowed in specific departments, whose recordings
are only to be viewed by authorised medical staff and relatives
of the patients. In schools, the installing of video-surveillance
systems is only allowed if it is strictly necessary, for instance
to counter vandalism, but they can only be operative outside
of school hours.
Nota del Garante per la privacy, 20.5.2004.
Full-text available (in Italian) on: http://www.cittadinolex.kataweb.it/Article/0,1519,28643|4,00.html
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