CCTV IN A Community

I am the President of a community and have just been unanimously voted a second term in office.

We have a been having a considerable amount of vandalism and break - ins to properterties in the community and I want to install security cameras but have been told by my administrator that I need to call an EGM to get permission to do this.

My question is this correct? or can I just go ahead and do this.

Effectively a President can do almost anything he wants but your Administrator is probably advising you about owners rights to privacy and suggesting you get the support of owners may not be such a bad idea, just in case someone wants to challenge you.

You will also require the permissions of the local town hall. They will do a survey and give you a licence. Usually a rubber stamp, plus fees of course.

You would be well advised to thoroughly consider the product you buy, particularly the performance of the cameras, where they are installed and the responsibility of reviewing the footage. 

Vehicle registration recognition cameras only seem to work when the vehicle is stationary and in daytime - effectively ditto general surveillance cameras where if you can persuade the miscreant to smile for a close-up it may be of some value, otherwise you may be wasting your money - other than a possible deterrent value.

Thanks to all who have replied and to let you know the following.

1.The quotation is for a proper system supplied by a reputable security company that is well known in Spain.

2. They take care of all the legal paperwork with police and councils.

3. The data recorded can only be accessed for specific reasons such as vandalism and trespass and only by the security company on our request in the event of any occurences of same.

re cctv,  I'm sure my neighbour has this on his balcony and by default this will also overlook our balcony and back windows, is this legal?  

I believe under the data protection laws CCTV can only show common areas of a resort and cannot ever cover publis roads ( vechicle recognition ) or private areas sish as balconies?

You will also require the permissions of the local town hall. They will do a survey and give you a licence. Usually a rubber stamp, plus fees of course.

Micky, is this a serious post?.

My reply was to the original OP regarding community CCTV and yes it's a requirement.

Lisinopril

I believe under the data protection laws CCTV can only show common areas of a resort and cannot ever cover publis roads ( vechicle recognition ) or private areas sish as balconies?

No reason to doubt this but how do traffic flow CCTV's, secruity camers in shops, banks, airports, bus stations, train stations, town centres and shopping centres (e.g. La Zenia) get round this?

Interesting summary on this link

https://www.mofo.com/resources/publications/spains-strict-new-limitations-on-video-surveillance.html

I just mentioned this thread to a friend and apparently a few months ago my friend and many of their neighbours had their outside CCTV cameras stolen. I think they used them for door entry security as well. They were quite lucky because the following week a CCTV company did a leaflet drop on their street. They were good and cheap, some Brits called CCTV R US. They all got a certificate and licence which was in English.

Potblack - please can you clarify the value of the certificate.

Acer, don’t really know, assumed it was some sort of guarantee. I can ask Maude if it’s important.

I cynically wonder if the stealing of the cameras and the leaflet drop were totally unconnected!!! 😡

Mmmm...that sounds like the local glazier throwing stones at nearby house windows.  Perish the thought!

Potblack, the query was made as you seemed to imply that the "certificate" was of important, which I did not understand.

When the UK introduced car windscreen chips and cracks into the yearly MOT's, many people came to us with complaints that it seemed everyone all of a sudden their windscreens started to get more chips and cracks then ever before ?

To much of a coincidence that CCTV cameras were nicked in one area then get a leaflet drop offering CCTV cameras, no doubt they could supply good second hand ones as well should you wanted them.

No, according to Maude these were genuine refurbished cameras with a guarantee, the licence was in English but with a Spanish official stamp.

Baz.  Were you connected to the insurance industry???

I only ask (I think its staying on thread...loosely) because someone ran into the back of my shiny new car 2 years ago and it was accepted their fault and their insurance paid out.

My insurance people have me down as a higher risk because someone ran into me.  Does that make sense?

Hi Tadd1966,

I'm refering to community CCTV not ones in private areas, the law states - 

Installation

The cameras can only capture images of the common areas of the community. They can not be captured images of public roads except for a minimal strip of access to the property. Nor may they captured images of land and adjoining buildings or other foreign space.

If steerable and / or zoom cameras are used, installing privacy masks will be needed to avoid capture images of public roads, land and homes of others. Hiring an external service or installing video surveillance cameras by a third party does not relieve the community of compliance with data protection legislation. 

So any that cover public roads would have to have permission from the Ministry of the Interior

Baz.  Were you connected to the insurance industry???

I only ask (I think its staying on thread...loosely) because someone ran into the back of my shiny new car 2 years ago and it was accepted their fault and their insurance paid out.

My insurance people have me down as a higher risk because someone ran into me.  Does that make sense?

No I am not connected to the insurance industry as a whole, I do deal with them when a customer has an insurance claim for what ever, but anything they will try on makes no sense anymore, it seems what one says another doesn't, forget the TV adverts with Mr Wolf, some come over as good guys then you have a claim and they are not, don't seem to make any difference to the cost either.

In your case I would be asking them if they have classed your post code as a high risk area ( Presume the UK) due to others having, say a few house break Ins, or one to many car accidents due to a local bad blind spot, sorry but don't expect any decent answer from them.

To add a little more and possibly only in the UK, just spoken to a young guy who had one of these 'Black Boxes' fitted to his car to lower his first time premiums, after one year it went up quite a fair bit so he asked the question and was told, 'It increased because the data from your black box recorded you driving through, and stopping in high risk postal code areas'