IMY presents a report which underlines the experience of the Agency in the issue of permission for the video surveillance with video camaras. The report includes advices and recommendations for all the companies which intent to carry out the video surveillance with video camaras, not matter if they shall ask a permission or not.
The Legislation on the CCTV has entered in force in August 2018, and a new characteristic of the legislation is that IMY, previously the Swedish Data Protection Authority, is responsible of all the CCTV supervision and of the issuing of permission to those companies that shall have a permission in order to carry out the CCTV. Since August 2018 until 2020, the Authority has received about 1.400 requests of permission for the video surveillance with video camaras.
IMY is now presenting a report which presents the full experience of the Authority in the issuing of permission of the video surveillance with video cameras.
The Camera Surveillance Act means that a low number of companies need the permission of the IMY to carry out the video surveillance with video camera. But those one which do not need a permission shall carry out the same type of assessment that the Authority does when it denies or permit a permission of the video surveillance with video cameras. In this report, the Authority has resumed the assessment carried out and it provides a guideline on compromises that shall be implemented before starting the CCTV.
The report reveals that the majority of questions for which the IMY has denied to the permission was due to a lack of problems sufficiently documented with the crime in the place where video cameras were places. Anyway, a lot of questions were partially accepted, for example, if there was a documented problem with the criminality in specific hours during the day or night. The permission of the video surveillance with video cameras has been then allowed in those hours, but not all over the day.
The report makes a series of recommendations and a general procedure suggested for companies that planned the usage of CCTV. In addition, a certain number of specific cases of CCTV are discussed more in detailed in schools, health structures, governmental premises, parking, pharmacies, forests and in apartments.