The High Court has taken a decision n. 2-18-11279, with which it has obliged a member of the flat’s association to remove a camera unauthorized installed.
The High Court has thought that the installation of security cameras in order that they could be used in order to film what is happening on the common property can not be considered like an intentional use of the co-ownership object.
Flat owners can decide on the installation of recording cameras on the object of co-ownership by a majority of votes. If the flat owner considers that, for security reasons, cameras should be installed to record what is happening in the co-ownership, he can propose to other flat owners to make a decision to this effect.
In particular, the cameras could be installed by a flat association, which controls the recording and decides on the release of what is recorded with the cameras. If most flat owners do not agree to take the decision to install cameras, the flat owner may, in justified cases, request the installation of cameras from other flat owners.
Commenting on the decision, Kadri Levand, lawyer at the Data Protection Inspectorate, said that the installation of cameras in flat associations is indeed part of the agreement on the use of co-ownership. Considering previous court decisions, the housing association can agree that cameras installed without approval can be dismantled if the owner does not do so himself. It is up to the general assembly of the association to decide whether the association uses the cameras to ensure security and under what conditions. The General Assembly may also decide otherwise. The General Assembly decides whether the cameras are used for security purposes and under what conditions. The General Assembly may also decide otherwise.
You can read more about the installation of cameras in a residential area in AKI’s article Using cameras in residential areas.
However, when you decide to use security cameras, you should bear in mind that any camera is harmful to people’s privacy and flat owners may need to analyse the need for it in more detail before deciding to use the cameras. To do this, you need to assess whether the camera meets its original security objective. For example, whether there have been thefts or crimes before. At the same time, less privacy-damaging options such as blocking the gate have been used before.
It is important to stress that the recordings cannot be used for any other purpose (tracking people) and no one can be tracked in real time. Furthermore, it is not justified to share access to camera surveillance with all flat owners. Once the camera has recorded the crime, the board of directors of the cooperative can extract the recording and pass it on to the police. If necessary, in the case of intra-cooperative infringements, the rules on cameras can be reviewed by the general meeting of the cooperative itself.
According to the General Data Protection Regulation, a cooperative has to put information signs on the cameras, which are not sufficient only the camera image. AKI has created a video surveillance tag generator to allow everyone to create a tag.