Video surveillance is the legal side of the coin. Part 1
The government and private sector are making extensive use of the latest video surveillance technology in a variety of circumstances and for a variety of purposes. Despite the obvious benefits of video surveillance, everyone who carries it out must be clear that there is only video surveillance that is provided legally. Thus, the Portuguese company that owns the building installed a video surveillance system in the building’s elevators without obtaining the consent of the tenants of the premises and without registering it with the authorized body for personal data. The purpose of installing the system was to combat vandalism. Once, having recorded the fact of vandalism and established the identity of the vandal, the company management called him “on the carpet.” The vandal immediately filed a complaint with the authorized body for personal data, which made a decision on the illegality of the method of obtaining evidence on this fact of vandalism due to the lack of permission to install a video surveillance system. The system was dismantled, and the vandal paid a fine in the minimum amount required by law.
Without proper justification for the purpose of video surveillance, it obviously falls outside the scope of the Law. It should also be remembered that even pre-determined and justified goals may not allow the use of the obtained data for other purposes, although obvious from the point of view of expediency.
Finally, it should be remembered that the legitimacy of a goal does not exist in isolation from the constitutional rights of citizens, especially the right to protection of private life. No matter how significant the goal of protecting property may be, achieving this goal, for example, within the framework of ensuring the safety of hotel equipment, does not allow the installation of video surveillance devices in residential premises (living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms and toilets, etc.).
Article 24 of the CONSTITUTION of the Russian Federation
1. Collection, storage, use and dissemination of information about a person’s private life without his consent is prohibited.
Comments to Article 24 of the Constitution
The Constitution, establishing the right to seek, receive, transmit, produce and disseminate information (Part 4, Article 29), in Part 1, Art. 24, in accordance with international standards, has provided for restrictions on this right aimed at protecting privacy and respect for the rights and reputations of others.
…
The Constitution establishes the consent of that person as a mandatory condition for the collection, storage, use and dissemination of information about the private life of a person.
…
The norm of the Constitution is formulated broadly, which obliges everyone to comply with the established procedure* for the collection, storage, use and dissemination of information about the private life of a person. This responsibility applies not only to state authorities and management, to state-owned enterprises and organizations, but also to commercial and public organizations and enterprises, as well as to citizens.
…
Part 1 art. 24 establishes a general rule, from which there are exceptions enshrined in the relevant legislative acts. Thus, a person’s consent is not required for the collection, storage, use and dissemination of information about him during an investigation, inquiry, or operational search activities. The procedure for law enforcement agencies to work with personal information is regulated by procedural, primarily criminal procedural, legislation. These bodies do not have the right to go beyond the law. In the event of a violation of the constitutional right of an individual to comply with the procedure for collecting, storing, using and distributing personal information, the interested person has the right to seek protection from the judicial authorities.
In this article we will look at the most popular legal aspects of video surveillance. For example, the legal subtleties of installing video surveillance in an enterprise or office.
According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation (Part 1, Article 23), each of us has the right to privacy. Information about it cannot be collected, stored, used or distributed without the consent of a person (Part 1 of Article 24 of the Constitution). However, many managers believe that nothing personal can happen at work, and when installing cameras in offices, they do not ask the consent of employees and do not inform them at all about video surveillance. According to Article 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, an employee has the right to full information about labor conditions and safety in the workplace.
Such evidence, in accordance with civil procedural legislation, must have the property of admissibility (Article 60 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation). And due to the direct instructions of the law, evidence obtained in violation of the law has no legal force and cannot be used as the basis for a court decision (Part 2 of Article 55 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation), i.e. Such evidence does not have the property of admissibility. According to the court, a secretly obtained video recording cannot be the basis for imposing disciplinary liability on an employee in the form of dismissal (Articles 192, 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), and the employer was unable to provide other evidence that the employee committed a disciplinary offense.
Thus, organizing video surveillance in an office or industrial premises requires compliance with many conditions. Otherwise, the employer may find himself in various unpleasant situations — from losing the loyalty of employees who learned about the tracking system through rumors, to losing a case in court.
But if you use video surveillance in the office in compliance with all legal regulations, video recording will help you not only ensure security, but will give you the opportunity to control business processes and situations within your company. You should take a responsible approach to choosing an equipment supplier. But if you use video surveillance in the office in compliance with all legal regulations, video recording will help you not only ensure security, but will give you the opportunity to control business processes and situations within your company. You should take a responsible approach to choosing an equipment supplier, and be sure to pay attention to the availability of relevant documents and certificates.
All Acumen products are certified and officially supplied to Russia, which is the main condition for the legality of video surveillance. As an optimal solution for the office, Acumen offers a kit for building a standard Ai-LISA video surveillance system. With proper design, the kit will help to effectively solve a number of production problems related to employee control, internal conflicts in the organization, and will also contribute to overall safety. The Ai-LISA kit includes 4 surveillance cameras, a compact Ai-D541 video recorder, the recorder uses advanced H.264 compression technology, designed to achieve a high degree of video stream compression while maintaining high quality. The kit also includes a 500GB hard drive, which will allow you to store and view recordings for up to 1 month. And related elements: cables, connectors. In the Ai-LISA set, all equipment is guaranteed to be compatible with each other and is the optimal set of necessary devices.
Related links
Video surveillance is the legal side of the coin. Part 2