Correspondence

January 2019

Updated 2 September 2021

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Welcome from the Surveillance Camera Commissioner

Happy New Year and welcome to the third edition of my newsletter! In this edition you can find out about the some of the strands of my national surveillance camera strategy and hear from the people who are leading them.

You can read the most recent blogs, news stories and case studies published on my website, as well as the latest local government authority guidance on introducing a mandatory CCTV policy for licenced vehicles.

Also find out which organisations have recently achieved certification and gained my charter mark.

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.

In focus – national surveillance camera strategy

The national surveillance camera strategy (NSCS) provides direction and leadership in the surveillance camera community to enable system operators to understand and use best and good practice and be aware of their legal obligations. The strategy is divided into 11 work strands, each led by sector expert who have developed plans for each strand to deliver the strategic vision. You can read about some of these strands below.

Voluntary adopters

Organisations that do not have a statutory responsibility to have regard to the SC Code – such as the retail, health, parking and education sectors – can choose to adopt the SC Code on a voluntary basis. Voluntary adopters is also a key strand of work within the framework of the NSCS as follows:

Objective 6 – Enablers and incentives are in place to encourage the voluntary adoption of the SC Code.

This strand is now being led by Mike Lees, Head of Business Security at Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. In 2017 they became the first NHS organisation to be awarded the commissioner’s third-party certification mark.

You can find out why they opted for certification and what plans Mike has to drive up adoption of the Code across various sectors by reading the guest blog he recently published on the commissioner’s website.

If anyone wants to get involved with this work or wants to suggest sectors to work with then please comment on this blog.

Human rights, data and technology

This strand has just recently been incorporated into the national strategy and is being led by Professor Pete Fussey from the University of Essex, a Director at the Centre for Research into Information, Surveillance and Privacy (CRISP) and research director for the ESRC Human rights, Big data and Technology (HRBDRT) project.

This strand will look at how human rights, civil liberty and privacy issues are considered alongside the development and deployment of surveillance camera technology which has potential to erode those rights and liberties.

Objective 11 – Foregrounding human rights and civil liberties standards in the use of surveillance camera technologies for the provision of public safety.

View the full details of this strand’s deliverables.

Raising standards – certification scheme

Under the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, police forces and local authorities must pay due regard to the surveillance camera code of practice (the code) – for other organisations adoption of the 12 principles in the code is voluntary.

The commissioner’s third party certification scheme enables organisations to visibly demonstrate they comply with the code by displaying the commissioner’s certification mark.

The commissioner offers his congratulations to:

  • District Enforcement Ltd for recently achieving desktop certification against their use of Body Worn Video cameras
  • Kent Police for recently achieving full certification against their use of UAVs (drones)
  • Stockton Borough Council for recently achieving full certification against their use of CCTV cameras.

Details about the scheme are on the SCC website or you can contact the commissioner’s team for more information.

In the news – recent events, news and publications

Commissioner’s news stories:

Commissioner’s case studies:

A case study on Park Watch being audited and successfully achieving full certification against their use of CCTV, body worn video and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR). They are the first organisation to be awarded SCC certification mark for ANPR cameras:

Local Government Authority (LGA) Guidance:

The LGA has developed this guidance to bring together some of the questions that authorities may want to consider if they are thinking about introducing a mandatory CCTV policy for licenced vehicles in their area.

The guidance reflects on approaches taken by authorities which already mandate CCTV and on the importance of striking a balance between passenger safety and privacy, reflecting the position of the Information Commissioner and Surveillance Camera Commissioner as the regulators.

It is intended to be used as a starting point for exploring some of the key issues and how these might apply at a local level.

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