The Data Protection Commissioner, Billy Hawkes, launched his annual report for 2011 yesterday the 30th April 2012. the report highlighted that in 2011 1,161 complaints that were opened for investigation, which is far in excess of the 2010 number of 783. The Commissioners annual report highlighted that last year 1,167 data security breach incidents were reported to the Office up from 410 in 2010.
Amongst the usual facts and figures of annual reports the data protection report highlights a number of case studies which provides a useful insight into the commissioners thinking in relation to a host of issues. One particularly noteworthy case is that of the Westwood Swimming Ltd. in Leopardstown, and their use of CCTV footage on the premises. The Complaint centered around the Company's use of such footage and the monitoring of their Employees. The complaint was raised by an employee who received two separate written warnings from their employer who was informing their of their whereabouts despite not being present on the premises at the time. The employer was logging in remotely to the live CCTV system and monitoring the employees whereabouts. The Company, when pressed by the Data Protection Commissioner, stated that the primary function of the system was for security purposes due to amount of cash and credit card slips with customer information on the premises, however the secondary function of this was to monitor as the Company have received numerous complaints due to the office or desk being left unmanned. The Company acknowledged that no staff had been informed in writing of the installation of such systems, however there was signage posted on the entrance to the premises, and the employees were fully aware the system was in place and the rationale behind the system. Following submission by the Employer the Commissioner issued a report to say that they were in breach of the Data Protection Acts, and to cease the monitoring of employees from the CCTV footage, and also that the disciplinary warnings that stemmed from this would be removed from the employees file. Importantly for Employers, the Commissioner stated in his formal report that even if the employer refers to the use of CCTV footage in their Company Handbook, the transparency and proportionality of this must be considered in any complaint. Usage of footage to review "the actions of individuals in exceptional circumstances of a serious nature" can be considered under the Act, however this was not the case in the Westwood Swimming Club scenario. The Commissioners website has provided some guidelines on the use of CCTV in the workplace, which can be found here, and the key points to be taken from this is the Proportionality (is it justified?, what will it be used for?, what images will be captured?), Transparency, and Storage. These are the key items that will be reviewed when looking at a system and if the usage is acceptable in an Organisation as it is important to remember CCTV footage is classified as Personal Data and as such is covered under the remit of the Data Protection Commissioner.
