You know that the clocks changed on Sunday morning, don’t you? Of course you do, but nevertheless we all still seem to be ignoring the legal requirements placed on anyone operating a CCTV system that captures members of the public.
Click here to view Figure 1.
So yes, we did all remember to change the clocks in our houses — the mantelpiece clock, the cooker, the boiler timer, the bedside clock radio, wrist watches, etc.
And then when we got in to work we went around changing the clocks on the walls.
But what happens to the more important timepieces? Like those on IT systems that need accurate times; on transport systems for buses, trains, and planes; or in radio and TV where we check the time? Time is pretty important there. Do we think they take a softly, softly approach to changing their clocks?
So it would seem that these types of outfits take the case of time-change a lot more seriously than you do your basic clocks around the office.
Now suppose that it is not just important to do from a business point of view. Let us now introduce the fact that in some cases making sure that time is correct is a legal requirement.
That is the position that the great majority of video surveillance systems in the UK find themselves in. Did your company think about what was required with respect to the time on your surveillance system before yesterday morning? Did you allocate a specific resource responsible for ensuring your CCTV’s time is correct, and therefore compliant with data protection legislation?
Now that you are reading this, ask yourself right now:
- Has the clock on the CCTV system been changed?
- Who is responsible for checking that it has been changed?
- Who was allocated the responsibility in advance?
- How long would it normally take to realise that the clock has not been changed?
- Does anyone know HOW to change the clock?
- Even if you pay for an automated clock, have you checked that it is accurate?
Don’t forget, while you read this you have already and continue to rely on that CCTV system perhaps as much as a staff member or a member of the public.
So the point that I am making? Well to be honest not many organisations change their clocks because they have a legal obligation to do it. They do it and many of them do it very quickly and very efficiently because it is very important to their businesses.
But with CCTV there is a legal obligation. This is probably one of the few areas where the changing of the clock has a legal impact, so you would think that the people who have to change the CCTV clocks would know all about it.
Horrifically the exact opposite is the case. The CCTV clock is one of the last things people think of. Those responsible for the surveillance system do not understand the importance of the accuracy of the clock and their legal obligation.
Can you imagine the damage to the reputation to video surveillance if CCTV evidence were thrown out of court because the operator could not even get the time right on the system? If the CCTV system showed an hour out when the crime was committed the accused could prove that they were elsewhere?
Can you imagine that same scenario and the thoughts of the victim who was relying on the CCTV evidence? A sophisticated system that showed the incident in full colour, in high definition and even had the date and time. What could possibly stop the accused being found guilty? Just because someone did not take the time seriously enough.
This affects all the CCTV systems — all over the UK, big and small, public and private.
The public expect that CCTV system to be running, working, and protecting them. And let’s be honest, did you ever think that changing a clock could have such an impact?
The clock is just a tiny part of what is really a common sense requirement to be compliant with data protection. Any doubts then, contact CameraWatch, who are independent and not-for-profit. Let’s just get it right. For the sake of video surveillance and the public.
Oh and now that you’ve finished reading this, on your way to heading for the bacon butty and cup of tea — have a wee check on the time on the CCTV system. It could make a huge difference.
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I will admit that the time on the CCTV System would probably be the last thing I would think of. In the states our time change does not occur till this weekend. I will have to create a reminder for checking it out!
Consider yourself warned! You wouldn’t want surveillance data being inadmissable in court as a result of such a small thing as the time on the recording. Easy to forget, though, I really enjoyed this article for that reason.
Systems that are PC based change their time automatically, in most cases. Most operating systems get the time from the internet, and since computers tend to use GMT with an offset for local time, it’s a simple adjustment for the comuter to make when the time changes.
If your system is not linked to some sort of time server, it should be checked weekly as well. Computer clocks are notoriously flaky and it could be drifting off by a few minutes a month. It’s just as illegal to be 10 minutes off as it is to be off by an hour, I suspect.
Yes, this is true of course, but best to check, right? Plus there’s a lot of analogue systems still out there, of course
Great advice. It’s similar to the smoke alarm advice in a strange way. They remind everyone when the clocks change to test your smoke alarm, but really that should be done weekly, too.
@ Rob
That is a very good point. It would be hard to accept if you had great video evidence to win your case just to have it thrown out for something that seems so trivial.
Well, a smoke alarm will “chirp” when the battery goes, the primary source of failure. But a system with a clock won’t show you it has drifted, often until it’s too late.
“Know your system,” I suppose.
This is probably good advice for other systems with clocks, such as access control and telephone. In fact, in our office, the phone system drifts the most. As I look at it now, it is 3 minutes fast, which means someone could leave me a voicemail message from the past in the future…
@Jonathan- Having time stamp on your video footage is important to pull out the information of any incident. This could be used as proof in a legal situation.
@Robert Brown – Time plays an important role on footage when you are at courts. Sometimes you might be even fined if you don’t maintain this properly.
@Robert Spurr – See how important that simple time adjustment on the system is. Sometimes we tend to miss out simple things that could be very important to you.
@Robert Spurr – yes it’s good to always check time accuracy on your system as sometimes it fails to time keep. The time total relies on the motherboard battery, if this battery is week it resets automatically.
@Robert Brown – these analog systems are not reliable at times, however it’s always good to frequently check for any discrepancies.
@Robert Brown – if something goes wrong it’s easy to rectify if you detected it early. The same applies to both science and technology. It’s important to proactively identify errors on the system before it’s too late.
@StacyE – Video footage is good enough evidence to prove a situation, so having it perfectly recorded is the objective.
Ok, this got me thinking with Daylight Savings changes this weekend how does the time change in Fall really affect your legal case if I set clocks back and hour at same 3 am then I have footage from 3 am twice? I could see some body arguing in their defense that the footage without them breaking in is the correct footage…
True, Shehan. I have heard of instances where incorrect date/timestamps were changed on purpose in order to falsify evidence. In which case, it was found out and everything was rendered null. Of course, charges were filed afterwards.
You are correct, Shehan. Most people have CCTV for purposes of monitoring. In cases where there are incidents, these are then pulled to be used as evidence. If the recordings are inherently faulty, then they obviously cannot be used.
I thought it was an excellent article. Not something that I would immediately (or if ever) think of. I am interested in some of the postings especially the one about being fined if the timing was wrong. Why would you be fined? What would be the criminal offence? Remember it is not necessarilly a criminal offence to breach any of the 8 principles of DPA. The other question I have is with regard to the admissability of the cctv images as evidence. If the image is being used for the purpose of identifying that the data subject was at the… Read more »
@ paul… I must say it is a great article. Most of us dont think that way and dont take this thing more seriously. It becomes more hectic if we forgot to change the clock and after a week or so have to find a specific footage and it never comes in our mind that in fact we forgot to change the clock.
@ chris.. Thanks for the details about the case. It is quite interesting. With the knowledge of law we can remove many obstacles. The big problem is that most of us now adays dont have much knowledge about our laws.
Having had many headaches tying CCTV images to access control data, I know the importance of this and have my guys check the time daily. If it suggests a lack of management of the systems in a court, you are fighting a losing battle and it will create an impression of poor management
@ Shehan
I agree, perfect video recording is the objective; but many times the footage isn’t perfect. My neighbors had video security at their home, but the video was not the best quality. They didn’t think it was that important, but when something actually happened and they caught it on video, the picture was so unclear that the “suspect” was not recognizeable.
My favourite is doing a subject access request for the footage deleted from a digital system when the clocks go back………
KEEP IT GMT then no problem and the police and CPS are happy!
i have literally just left the police station. upon waking up on an already miserable Monday morning my picture plastered over several social media sites and local papers, regarding a robbery and stolen credit card, their reason was the cctv footage showing me going in using my card on the SUPPOSED time. I rang the police and had to leave work early as I wanted to clear this up in the earliest instance (boss wasn’t happy), I was baffled shocked and felt sick, showing me the footage saying I was the only person to use the machine within the said… Read more »