Correspondence

May 2019

Updated 2 September 2021

Welcome to the 6th edition of my newsletter.

Tony Porter

Surveillance Camera Commissioner

scc@sccommissioner.gov.uk

Introduction

In this issue you can read about the standards and certification strand of my national surveillance camera strategy and the Surveillance Camera Day taking place on 20 June as one of the deliverables of the civil engagement strand of the strategy.

You can read my response to the Department of Transport consultation on taxi and private hire vehicle licensing, a transcript of the Westminster debate on facial recognition and the biometrics strategy, and the statement from South Wales police regarding the Judicial Review of their use of facial recognition technology.

You can follow links to the most recent blogs published on my website, and access an updated guidance for local authorities on establishing a single point of contact (SPOC) designed to support the management of video surveillance systems across its area of responsibility.

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 the Standards and Certification strand below.

Standards and certification

The Surveillance Camera Commissioner has a statutory role to provide the CCTV industry with a current list of recommended standards. Standards and certification is therefore a key strand of work within the framework of the NSCS as follows:

Objective 1 – enable certification against a range of recognisable standards for the whole spectrum of the industry (manufacturers, designers, installers, system operators) in delivering surveillance camera solutions.

This strand is being led by Alex Carmichael, Security Systems and Alarms Inspection Board. Alex said:

The commissioner’s standards strand has produced recommended standards for the surveillance industry and guidance for surveillance camera owners, installers, and monitoring centres. In the near future, further surveillance guidance will be produced for the commissioners certification system for installation companies and monitoring companies and also guidance for manufacturers on how to ensure their surveillance equipment is cyber secure when it is put on to the market. Looking further into the future, the standard strand will be recommending standards for artificial face recognition, producing guidance for designers (consultants) of surveillance camera systems and guidance for installers on how to ensure a product is installed cyber securely.

Find out more on the SCC website about the following standards.

• standards for CCTV installers and maintainers
• standards for public space CCTV control rooms/operators
• standards for manufacturers
• standards for private CCTV monitoring companies
• standards for body worn video cameras
• guidance for in-house monitoring centres

Surveillance Camera Day 20 June 2019

Surveillance Camera Day will be a national event to encourage a conversation about the use of surveillance cameras in modern society. It will take place on 20 June 2019.

The day is one of the deliverables of the civil engagement strand of the national surveillance camera strategy and is intended to raise awareness about surveillance cameras and generate a debate about how they are used in society.

Surveillance Camera Day is being organised by the Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s office in conjunction with the Centre for Research into Information, Surveillance and Privacy (CRISP).

Read the commissioner’s blog to find out how to get involved with Surveillance Camera Day.

For further information email the Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s office (scc@sccommissioner.gov.uk) or Professor William Webster (william.webster@stir.ac.uk) at CRISP.

Doors Open

Doors Open

The Doors Open initiative encourages organisations to open their video surveillance camera control rooms to members of the public. It’s part of Surveillance Camera Day and is designed to give people access to the control room so they can see firsthand how they are run to keep communities safe and secure whilst not intruding on their privacy.

The Doors Open initiative is intended to support a broader conversation about the role of surveillance cameras in modern society and will take part alongside national and local publicity around the Surveillance Camera Day.

If you are going to participate in Doors Open please contact the Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s office (scc@sccommissioner.gov.uk) so they can add you to the list of participating organisations on their website.

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. A list of organisations of certified organisations is also displayed on the SCC website and updated quarterly.

The commissioner offers his congratulations to:

• Cornwall Fire, Rescue and Community Safety Service for recently achieving full certification against their use of CCTV cameras
• Gloucestershire Constabulary who were presented with a certificate by the commissioner at the CCTV User Group Conference in Towcester on 14 May 2019 for being the first police force to achieve certification for ANPR

Details about the scheme and an updated leaflet are available on the SCC website or you can contact the Commissioner’s team (scc@sccommissioner.gov.uk) for more information.

In the news – recent events, news and publications

News stories:

Last week South Wales police were challenged in court over their use of facial recognition technology. Deputy Chief Constable Richard Lewis said:

This Judicial Review process has allowed the Court to scrutinise decisions made by South Wales Police in relation to facial recognition technology. We welcomed the Judicial Review and now await the court’s ruling on the lawfulness and proportionality of our decision making and approach during the trial of the technology.

The force has always been very cognisant of concerns surrounding privacy and understands that we, as the police , must be accountable and subject to the highest levels of scrutiny to ensure that we work within the law. We have sought to be proportionate, transparent and lawful in our use of AFR (Automated Facial Recognition) during the trial period and have worked with many stakeholders to develop our approach and deployments. During this period we have made a significant number of arrests and brought numerous criminals to justice.

We await the Courts judgement and guidance and will take full cognisance of its findings in any future use of the technology.

Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s blogs:

• Get involved in Surveillance Camera Day – 20 June

Surveillance Camera Day will be a national event to encourage a conversation about the use of surveillance cameras in modern society. The day is one of the deliverables of the civil engagement strand of the national surveillance camera strategy and is intended to raise awareness about surveillance cameras and generate a debate about how they are used in society.

• How effective are Video Surveillance Systems (VSS)?

Video Surveillance Systems are operated by most Local Authorities in England and Wales and are intrinsically linked with operational policing to protect the public and ensure their safety. So how effective are they and is the cost of installing and operating those systems really worth it?

Guest blogs:

Cyber security expert Mike Gillespie blogged on a new minimum requirement for the manufacture of surveillance cameras. A self certification scheme, which is entirely voluntary, has been developed that will allow manufacturers to assess their systems for compliance, and to apply for the Commissioner’s Secure by Default certification mark to display. This will ensure that surveillance cameras are cyber secure. Find out what it will mean for the video surveillance industry.

Westminster debate on Facial Recognition and the Biometrics Strategy

On 1 May 2019 the hon. Member for Bristol North West (Darren Jones) secured a debate in Westminster on facial recognition and the Biometrics Strategy (Sir Robert Gale in the Chair). Read a transcript of the debate.

Introducing a single point of contact (SPOC): guidance for local authorities

This document is primarily aimed at local authorities but can be utilised by any organisation operating video surveillance systems. It provides guidance to local authorities in establishing a single point of contact (SPOC) to support the management of video surveillance systems across its area of responsibility.

It sets out information on why a SPOC is useful, what their responsibilities are, and how to go about introducing a SPOC for surveillance camera related matters.

It explains how a SPOC should establish a Code of Practice (LA Code) setting out the governance arrangements that all surveillance camera schemes must comply with, and the documentation that scheme managers are required to maintain in a code assessment pack (CAP) to demonstrate that each scheme continues to be operated in compliance with the LA Code.

Surveillance Camera Commissioner resposne to the ‘Taxi and private hire vehicle licensing: proecting users’ consultation by the Department for Transport

The commissioner welcomed the opportunity to provide input into this consultation on statutory guidance for licensing authorities with regard to taxis. He worked with the Department for Transport in development of the draft guidance that was issued for consultation.

The commissioner’s response focuses on the guidance in relation to proposals for blanket licensing requirement for CCTV in taxis.