Correspondence

August 2021

Updated 2 September 2021

Welcome from the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner (BSCC)

Welcome to the 2nd edition of my newsletter. I’ve been in post now for 6 months and both of my roles have kept me very busy. Fortunately, over the summer I have been able to get out and about to meet various stakeholders, including visiting police forces across England and Wales to review their compliance with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and discuss their use of biometric and surveillance camera technologies – more on this in the next newsletter!

In this edition you can read about the Home Office launching a consultation on revisions to the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice (the Code) and the recent developments in the Local Authority strand of the National Surveillance Camera Strategy. You can find out which organisations have recently achieved certification against the Code and follow links to all the latest blogs and publications on my website.

I hope you find what’s in this edition useful. Please forward this to anyone you think may be interested and they can subscribe to receive the newsletter themselves by completing a short online form.

Home Office launches consultation on revisions to the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice

The Government has launched a statutory consultation to update the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice which runs until 8 September 2021.

The Code, issued under section 30 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA), provides guidance on the appropriate use of surveillance camera systems by local authorities and the police. This is the first revision to the Code since its introduction in June 2013. The proposed draft updates references to subsequent legislation, in particular Data Protection legislation, and the judgment in Bridges v South Wales Police. There is also some rationalising of the text to make it easier for the user to follow.

The amended Code does not place any additional burden on those authorities who should have regard to it, and the list of relevant authorities defined in the PoFA is not being extended at present. Subject to the comments received, the Government’s intention is to lay the draft Code before parliament in late autumn.

I would like to encourage contributions to this consultation from a wide range of stakeholders. I would also ask that all comments on the amended Code are sent to my office at the latest by 8 September at the following email address: scc@sccommissioner.gov.uk.

Further information about the consultation can be found on my website.

In focus – National Surveillance Camera Strategy (NSCS)

Local Authorities strand of the NSCS

The objective of the Local Authority strand of the NSCS is to “Develop systems and processes between Police, Local Authorities and other relevant partners to establish efficient working practices regarding the operation of surveillance cameras in order to protect communities rather than spy on them complying with all relevant legislation.”

One of the deliverables of this strand was to develop a framework Service Level Agreement (SLA), designed to be used to help police forces and local authorities set up their own SLAs. It has been prepared by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), the Public CCTV Managers Association (PCMA), the LGA and through consultation with other key organisations.

Strand lead expert and Chair of the PCMA, Tony Gleason, said:

Ensuring there are proper, robust and efficient agreements in place are extremely important. Although, I’m mindful that a ‘one size fits all’ approach is probably is not the right approach. What is right for one local authority and police force may not be right for another. What we are not doing is developing a template that simply is filled in by both parties, rather we are working up a framework which will cover the areas any good service level agreement should have in it.

These areas include – purpose and legitimacy, legal considerations, governance, information sharing, communication, training, surveillance types (overt and covert), finance, feedback, future technology and evaluation/review. The list is not exhaustive and some areas may not need to be used in an agreement. The point is to develop better partnership working that help local authorities and police forces work more effectively in our roles.

Raising standards: Third-Party Certification Scheme

Under the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, police forces and local authorities must have regard to the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice (SC Code) – for other organisations adoption of the 12 principles in the Code is voluntary and, in some ways, more powerful as they have no legal obligation to follow the principles.

The third-party certification scheme enables organisations to demonstrate that they comply with the Code by displaying a certification mark. Many congratulations are therefore due to the following organisations who have recently been issued with the mark:

• Ipserv Ltd
• CP Plus (Trading as Group Nexus)
• ParkingEye Ltd

A list of certified organisations is also displayed on my website and updated monthly.

Details about the scheme are available on my website or you can contact my team for more information, by emailing: scc@sccommissioner.gov.uk.

Raising standards: Secure by Default Self-Certification scheme

Secure by Default: self-certification of Video Surveillance Systems (VSSs)

Self-certification allows manufacturers or surveillance camera devices and components to demonstrate clearly that their products meet minimum requirements to ensure that they are secure by default and secure by design. It will mean that the UK’s resilience against cyber security attacks via VSSs is higher. The new requirements are an important step forward for manufacturers, installers and users alike in providing the best possible assurance for stakeholders that products aren’t vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

A list of self-certified organisations is also displayed on my website.

Details about the scheme are available on my website or you can contact my team for more information.

In the news – recent events, news and publications

Published correspondence:

• In July I wrote to Baroness Williams, Minister of State for the Lords, in relation to the risks and considerations of surveillance camera systems under extraterritorial ownership. Read my letter and her response.

• Throughout July and August, I have been liaising with Justin Hollis, the Marketing Director of Hikvision UK and Ireland, and Ambassador Pierre-Richard Prosper, on the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee report entitled ‘Never Again: The UK’s responsibility to act on atrocities in Xinjiang and beyond’. I have sought to obtain clarification, specificity and transparency from Hikvision on their knowledge of the use(s) of its surveillance camera systems in internment facilities in China. Read my letters and the responses here.

Blogs

• Read Tony Gleason’s guest blog on the Framework Service Level Agreement, recently published under the National Surveillance Camera Strategy to provide guidance to organisations who have partnership arrangements for their use of surveillance camera systems.

• Read IVPM’s article ‘UK Surveillance Camera Code of Practice Examined’ which gives a helpful overview of the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, its impact, who it applies to and comparisons to other countries.

• Read the article ‘Accountability in Action’ I wrote for Police Professional discussing technological advancements and the corresponding need for transparency and trust.
  Webinar

• Earlier this month, I was a panellist at the IREX webinar ‘Staying competitive / To keep the application of ethical standards and principles at the core’. Read the publicised discussion where I talked about the interface between ethics and competition in the biometrics and surveillance camera technology market. This should not be viewed as an endorsement of any product or system.

If you did not receive this newsletter directly, you can register to receive future editions by completing a short online form.

Fraser Sampson

Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner

scc@sccommissioner.gov.uk enquries@obscc.org.uk