Can I sue over deleted cctv?

[Basha72]

If the Bar club is storing Data of a personal nature ie images that a person may be identified by, then they should be registered with the ICO stating in what way they are storing data and why

How do I know whether the Data Protection Act applies to my business/organisation?
The Act will usually apply unless you are an individual holding personal information for your own domestic use, eg an address book.

from Devon and Cornwall Police :-

Data Protection and Evidence Handling

Normally business premises will be using their cameras for the
protection and safety of its staff and patrons with an objective of
preventing or deterring crime. As such video evidence may be
needed to be obtained from the system for the purpose of a
prosecution by the Police. It is therefore essential that the CCTV
system be registered with the Information Commissioner and has at

least a basic Code of Practice.

So I would say that a pub club would need to register £35 per year !! not much to be to stay on the better side of the law

Ref Police Powers :-

Section 19 (3) Police & Criminal Evidence, 1984

If a Constable is lawfully on the premises then they “may seize anything which is on the premises if he has reasonable grounds for believing :

a)

that it is evidence in relation to an offence which he is investigating or any other offences

and

b)

that it is necessary to seize it in order to prevent the evidence being
concealed, lost, altered or destroyed”.

Section 19, (4) Police & Criminal Evidence Act, 1984
“The constable may require any information which is contained on a computer and is accessible from the premises to be produced in a form in which it can be taken away and in which it is visible and legible if he has grounds for believing :

a)

that:
i) it is evidence in relation to an offence which he is investigating or
any other offence;

or

ii) it has been obtained in the commission of an offence
and

b)

that it is necessary to do so in order to prevent it being concealed lost or destroyed”.

‘Lawfully on premises’ includes Police Officers being ‘invited’ onto the premises by someone who is entitled to do so as well as being present by some other lawful authority such as search warrant.

In practical terms the Constable may take physical possession of original video tapes and / or copies and CD copies of media stored on a digital recording device such as the computer hard drive.

The better we look after our CCTV systems and work to the ACOP people will have more faith in the systems, other than asuming staff would have deleted it etc or the tapes not working etc etc.

Basha 72

[kensplace]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VICTORMACE Bars or clubs are under absolutely no obligation to show any footage caught on camera to anybody even the police unless the police have a warrant to view the footage. Remember CCTV works two ways and only to the bars advantage, the bar can use it to prosecute violent offenders damaging their business and reputation which is a valid point or when something happens like the theft of a coat or handbag and I dont mean in any way to belittle anyones loses but its not a huge crime by any means the bar will simply refuse to allow the footage to be seen or will erase the said footage as this minor crime will draw too much police attention to the bar.In all the years I've looked after bars and clubs I've never heard of anyone sueing a bar for loss handbag, coat or mobile phone. Sorry but thats the way it is.

Not true, if they are DPA registered, which they should be then they have to follow the rules, part of which are the previously mentioned subject access requests for footage.


You cant operate a business, have CCTV of the public in that business and ignore requests for footage, as you would be in clear breach of the DPA.

Any bar that tells you otherwise, especially if the facts are shown to them, deserves reporting to the ICO. (In the UK that is, other places will have different rules.)

[Mrburns]

"Not true, if they are DPA registered, which they should be then they have to follow the rules, part of which are the previously mentioned subject access requests for footage.


You cant operate a business, have CCTV of the public in that business and ignore requests for footage, as you would be in clear breach of the DPA."

yep thats right. infact i hada request this week for footage from on of my clients systems (civil car damege) lol

[VICTORMACE]

I know of no Bar or Club in Belfast that is ICO or DPA registered certainly none of the places that I have worked and I have worked in many. I have worked in places that have just told the police that the cameras did not catch anything and the police seem to accept it, when in fact I have known the cameras did catch something, and I have been threatened to keep quiet. I know this is wrong but you must take into consideration the fact that a lot of the door security in Belfast is paramilitary run and some of the bars and clubs are actually owned by paramilitaries and drug dealers who have a less than cordial relationship with the police. A lot of the legally owned bar owners take the view that you should have looked after your own stuff and dont think for a minute that a crime was committed on their premises, this is also very wrong. Hope you all will be understanding with these opinions as I'm only stating the circumstances in which I sometimes have to work.

[Mrburns]

victormace - no fair enough chap i can understand where your coming from. the law is not used properly when it comes to cctv in england as most the coppers don't understand it fully. Not good your having to work in that kind of environment. Would be so easy for someone to sqrew you over if everything is that corrupt.

However that does not change the fact that under uk law all cctv systems used to meet licensing requirements in a licensed premiss must be registered in accordance with the dpa.

[Mattie03]

This could just be a lesson for you to keep an eye on your belongings. No one is responsible for it but you. You can't sue them if they can't show you anything. Even the police said there's nothing to show. Just be very careful with your stuff where ever you go so that it wont happen again.

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