New video surveillance guidelines

Another step in the development of Canadian privacy law is the introduction last month of new video surveillance guidelines by the Privacy Commissioner for Canada. The guidelines provide ten criteria for evaluating whether overt video surveillance is being conducted lawfully and in compliance with existing privacy legislation. Should anyone ever file a complaint with the privacy commissioner regarding video surveillance practices of a business, compliance (or lack of compliance) with these guidelines will be an important factor in evaluating whether a privacy breach has occured.

Some important notes for business owners:

• You need to have a valid business purpose for surveillance.
• Consider if your purposes could be achieved through less intrusive measures than video surveillance.
• You need to inform customers that video surveillance is taking place before they enter a business establishment.
• Individuals have a right to access the images taken of themselves.

The guidelines can be found on the privacy commissioner’s website.