It’s always good to have feedback on articles, and the comments on the article on clock-changing on CCTV systems raised a few.
Yes, there are many automated systems out there which we pay for to keep the time accurate and up-to-date. Unfortunately, for many different reasons the reality is not always so positive. CameraWatch has seen too many CCTV systems which have inaccurate times, even though a third-party time accuracy system is deployed.
As has often been the case, it was not discovered through regular checks, but when CameraWatch carried out a compliance assessment. The one word which we steer clear of is the word assume. That most certainly goes for the time element. Basically, who in the organisation is assigned the responsibility of checking that what you are paying for is correct and that the time is accurate?
There is a requirement by law to make sure that it is accurate. There is a requirement on the data controller for the CCTV system. If something is wrong, it won’t be the time-clock company that gets a bashing in the media, will it?
Talking of assumptions, there is a major assumption that most, if not all, local authority CCTV systems are highly organised and that they are fully compliant with the Data Protection Act. Well in reality there are far, far too many local authority-run CCTV systems that do not comply. Indeed there is a frightening variation of compliance throughout these systems the width and breadth of the UK. Yes there are some much better than others. There are some who are very good, and many that are not.
But this wholesale assumption that because it is a public space system, or because it is local authority or an arms-length council company, then everything is done correctly and legally — well, sorry, that just isn’t accurate. That’s why we get so many media stories of spying, misuse, inaccuracy, or any of the many negative column inches that the media put out about CCTV. We need to put the house in order so we can stop these stories.
As Big Brother Watch has put it many times, CCTV in the UK just feeds stories because so many CCTV systems are not run properly. If we get all CCTV systems to be compliant with data protection then Big Brother Watch would need to look somewhere else for its stories. It’s very simple, Big Brother Watch knows it, and CameraWatch knows it. But for some reason the CCTV industry continues to ignore the fact.
Private systems
It should also be pointed out that the great majority of CCTV in the UK is not this category of local authority/public space. Only a reported 3 to 4 percent of the UK CCTV population is local authority/public space, leaving well over 90 percent are private CCTV systems. Whoever owns and manages them — they need to be legal.
Legality comes from complying with data protection legislation, since the images being captured are people’s personal data. As with other means of collecting and storing personal data, the CCTV system must comply with what are called the eight principles of the UK Data Protection Act. Principle four states that personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date. The capture, storage and presentation of CCTV images with incorrect time recording hardly falls into the accurate category, does it?
So the message is that it is very simple to get it right. To take the responsibility. To have the confidence that everything is accurate. So check the clock regularly, not just twice a year, and not just every month. It should be an integral part of the smooth running of the system. If you can be shown to get a simple thing like the time wrong on a video surveillance system — then what other less simple things might be going wrong with it?
CCTV is a wonderful tool, but only when it is managed correctly and legally.
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