Cctv

sammyjo1979

Hi,
I'm not sure if i've posted this in the right place but....
So we've had an ongoing issue with neighbours that live opposite us for about a 1.5 years now. They have said that my kids keep damaging their cars when playing with balls. The thing is they have CCTV so they have all recordings and there is no evidence of this. The police have been out several times due to the complaints (not just about us, other people on the street too) and have said to them there is no evidence etc etc. However, what we have found out today is that their CCTV has been recording our house. The front garden, the front door, the garage, the side of our house into the back garden even to a point where you can see myself pulling the blind in the kitchen (our front door was open) at the back off the house. They record my husband putting padlocks on our back gate and locking our garage and have said they are recording us as my husband is suspicious! (no, he has just had a lot of tools stolen out of his van and garage a few times, hence all the additional padlocks).

Can anyone tell me what the law is on this? I've googled but it is a little conflicting, some say they aren't allowed to do it, other sites say its okay. I've been on the ICO website but that tends to refer to GDPR which doesn't relate to Domestic CCTV.

Sorry it's such a long post, but any advise would be gratefully received. I have two young children who I am now telling to stay away from windows etc as I have no idea what they are doing with the data!

Thanks.

Hasbeen

Its covered by the Human rights act - Privacy.

My opinion would be to contact the local council / police for advice.

Some advice also here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-cctv-using-cctv-systems-on-your-property/domestic-cctv-using-cctv-systems-on-your-property

Norman_Castle

They record my husband putting padlocks on our back gate and locking our garage and have said they are recording us as my husband is suspicious!

They're recording you because they're nutters. How did you find out and have you asked them to stop?

AaronDH

sammyjo1979 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me what the law is on this? I've googled but it is a little conflicting, some say they aren't allowed to do it, other sites say its okay. I've been on the ICO website but that tends to refer to GDPR which doesn't relate to Domestic CCTV.

You may find this link helpful: https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/domestic-cctv-systems-guidance-for-people-using-cctv/ It explains the law for you.



The data protection/GDPR legislation prevents excessive data collection. I would argue that filming your property to the extent you suggest is excessive. However excessive data collection is not a criminal matter (e.g. nothing to do with the police) and they're unlikely to want to get involved in neighbour disputes.



Normally householders with CCTV are not required to register with the ICO or have privacy impact assessments etc (e.g. take the steps a local council or a shop with CCTV need to take). However the 'domestic exclusion' mentioned in the helpful link from Hasbeen and the link from me wouldn't apply because they are capturing your property. They should be registered with the ICO as a data controller, you can check if they are online.


My view is that to justify filming the street or your house they would have to show such capture was justified to prevent damage to their property. If they can't do this they would be in breach of the law and you could ask the ICO to investigate (they can impose fines) or take civil action against them.



If you're captured on their CCTV you have a right to make a subject access request for them to provide a copy of the CCTV showing you. You could make one every single day...

Hasbeen wrote: »

Its covered by the Human rights act - Privacy.

My opinion would be to contact the local council / police for advice.

The Human Rights Act, specifically Article 8 (Right to Privacy) only imposes a need to uphold this right on members of the state, e.g. the police, local councils etc. It does not apply to private individuals.


The Information Commisioner's Office (ICO) are the correct agency to contact. The police or local council will be unable to help unless the criminal law is being broken or anti-social behaviour is being caused. That said if the neighbour is a council tenant, their housing team might form the view their actions are in breach of their tenancy agreements.

shaun_from_Africa

AaronDH wrote: »

If you're captured on their CCTV you have a right to make a subject access request for them to provide a copy of the CCTV showing you. You could make one every single day...

Not forgetting that if the amount of SARs submitted by one person are excessive then the operator of the CCTV system has the right to ignore those requests or if they wish to provide the information then they are legally entitled to charge a fee to cover their costs in complying with the requests.

AaronDH

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Not forgetting that if the amount of SARs submitted by one person are excessive then the operator of the CCTV system has the right to ignore those requests or if they wish to provide the information then they are legally entitled to charge a fee to cover their costs in complying with the requests.

Repeat SARs need to be excessive or manifestly unfounded to be ignored. Perhaps one a day would be excessive... One request a week along might not be in the circumstances (because of the amount of 'new' data on the subject that would be collected).


Any fee charged has to be reasonable... https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/right-of-access/


I suspect the neighbour won't be registered as a data controller nor will they correctly respond to a SAR in any case! If I was the OP I would be completing a SAR to see what data they are actually capturing.

sammyjo1979

Thank you for all your replies.

We actually found out through the Police. They came to us as the neighbours had said that we were harassing them by playing with the ball. They have been filming us for about 3 years and have footage of where the ball has rolled onto the car wheel and that is it! The police have asked them not to film our house to which they have refused and said they will continue to do it. Apparently this is how they feel they can get around the privacy and data protection etc as they are saying they are filming us to protect themselves. I spent 40 mins on the phone to an officer today (such a waste of time for them IMO) just going through everything. She did say that WE could actually go down the harassment route as they have been filming us for years and have no evidence of wrong doing or anything. Constant calling of the police but with nothing there. I've asked when does it get to the point that you tell them they are wasting police time and she said it's very difficult to do that. She has advised me also to send an SAR (as did the ICO) which I will do and send signed for so there is no denial of getting it.

I have had a look online for a template. Has anyone seen an SAR template?

I really appreciate everyone's responses, I just feel pretty annoyed that there doesn't appear to be any law to prevent people filming you. It just seems crazy!

AaronDH

sammyjo1979 wrote: »

I have had a look online for a template. Has anyone seen an SAR template?

I really appreciate everyone's responses, I just feel pretty annoyed that there doesn't appear to be any law to prevent people filming you. It just seems crazy!

Basically write them a letter asking them to provide all data they hold about you including cctv footage of you. Provide times when you know you would have been filmed over the last 30 days. Say something like “please note, this is a subject access request and as the data controller you are obliged to provide this data”. Perhaps you could link them to the relevant site on the ICO’s website.

Also the law is there to prevent this. It’s just not criminal law so it’s nothing to do with the police. Keep dealing the ICO but you may need to seek legal advice and instruct a solicitor to take action against them. It may just take a strongly worded letter from a solicitor to stop them excessively filming.