Comply and be noticed!!!!

Comply and let it be noticed! It is as important to comply as it is for anyone to see that we comply, otherwise we may find ourselves in a situation that no one would want: to be sanctioned!

This is what has happened to a company in Alicante, which has in its facilities a video surveillance system and had installed some information signs but they were not visible enough and the location of these is more important than we might think.

Requirements for the installation of video cameras

As we all know, if we use a video surveillance system we must meet certain requirements to comply with data protection regulations:

Register of Treatment Activities

The video surveillance activity must be recorded in the Register of Processing Activities(RAT).

Complete information

It is mandatory to inform any person accessing our facilities that:

-There is a video surveillance system.

-Identification and contact details of the person in charge of the treatment.

-How to contact DPD

-The purpose of this video surveillance system

-Image conservation periods

-The rights of any person accessing the facilities

Data Minimization Principle

The principle of data minimization without exceeding the legitimate interest of the data controller must apply.

Installation of Badges

Informative signs should be posted at the entrances to our facilities.

Conservation limit

The images will be kept for a maximum period of 1 month from their capture, and subsequently, they will be deleted.

Safety measures

Adoption of the security measures established in art. 32 RGPD.

However, complying with these obligations should be enough to avoid being subject to claims and subsequent sanctions by the Spanish Data Protection Agency(AEPD); but sometimes, things are not as they seem.

Visibility of compliance

Delivering is important, but it is just as important for others to see that we deliver.

With this we want to bring up a recent resolution of the AEPD, where a company located in Alicante, was penalized for not being visible its video surveillance information sign.

The case focuses on the fact that a person complained to the AEPD about the possibility of having been captured by cameras located in the aforementioned company, pointing out that the company did not have any informative sign indicating that area as video monitored, thus failing to comply with data protection regulations.

The company alleged in its defense that it did have the video-surveillance zone information sign, but that when the store was closed, the sign was hidden, a circumstance of which the claimant was unaware.

The AEPD considered that in this case, even though the company complied with its obligation to place the video surveillance information sign, it should have ensured that the sign was visible in all circumstances, with the closure above or below the establishment, so that under no circumstances would it be hidden.

Thus, since the video surveillance sign is not visible, it is clear that any person who notices the existence of the cameras could not know who the data controller is, what their contact details are, or the purpose of the processing. This is in breach of art. 13 of the RGPD regarding the duty of information, and art. 22. 4 of the LOPDGDD, which states that the duty of information shall be understood to be fulfilled by placing an informative device in a sufficiently visible place identifying, at least, the existence of the processing, the identity of the data controller and the possibility of exercising the rights.

For this circumstance, the company was sanctioned with 1,000 euros as a consequence of the infringement of art. 13 of the GDPR.

With this Resolution, the AEPD reminds us that we must not only comply, but also make our compliance visible to others, so that there is no confusion as to whether we are acting within or outside the legal framework, and therefore, whether or not we are subject to being sanctioned.

Business Adapter® at your service

If you need advice on the requirements to be met by a data protection poster in particular and the video surveillance system in general, contact us by email: info@businessadapter.es, you can also call 96 131 88 04, or leave your message in this form and avoid penalties:

[su_button url=”https://businessadapter.es/contacto” target=”blank” background=”#f6f903″ color=”#181818″ size=”7″ center=”yes” icon_color=”#000000″]Contact us, we will be pleased to help you.[/su_button]