Introduction and Objectives

A Closed-Circuit Television System (CCTV) has been introduced by Ex Cathedra Solutions Limited (“the company”) comprising a number of cameras both fixed and mobile. All cameras are fully operational.

The owner of the system is the company.

For the purposes of the UK Data Protection Legislation, the data controller is the company, which is registered with the Information Commissioner, registration ZA169937.

The system manager is the Director, Steve Durbin. The Director is also the key contact point, and should be contacted via the “contact us” page on this website for any issues relating to the system

It is recognised that operation of the Company’s CCTV System may be considered to infringe on the privacy of individuals. The Company recognises that it is their responsibility to ensure that CCTV on the premises should always comply with all relevant legislation, to ensure its legality and legitimacy. CCTV will only be used as a proportional response to identified problems and be used only in so far as it is necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, public safety, the economic well-being of the area, for the prevention and detection of crime or disorder, for the protection of health and morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.


The legislation concerning CCTV in Section 30 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 has produced a CCTV Code of Practice from the Surveillance Camera Commissioner that has been approved by Parliament and the Company must pay due regard to the code.


The Company in managing its CCTV operations under this Code of practice will endorse and comply with all 12 guiding principles of the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice.

The Codes of Practice and observance of the Operational Procedures contained in the policy shall ensure that evidence is secured, retained and made available as required to ensure there is absolute respect for everyone’s right to a free trial.


The Company CCTV System shall be operated with respect for all individuals, recognising the right to be free from inhuman or degrading treatment and avoiding discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.

Objectives

The objectives of the Company CCTV System which form the lawful basis for the processing of data are: –

  • To help deter crime and reduce the fear of crime
  • To ensure the safety of persons in or near our premises and vehicles
  • To protect our property from theft, vandalism and other threats
  • To help detect crime and disorder, or other public safety issues
  • To provide evidential material suitable for court proceedings, dispute resolution and civil proceedings
  • To assist in supporting civil proceedings
  • To assist in the overall management of the company, including dispute resolution

How we comply with the code

Principle 1 Use of a surveillance camera system must always be for a specified purpose which is in pursuit of a legitimate aim and necessary to meet an identified pressing need.

The specific purposes are given in Objectives above. There is a pressing need for the company to ensure the safety of its staff and customers, and to protect its assets.

Principle 2 The user of a surveillance camera system must take into account its effect on individuals and their privacy, with regular reviews to ensure its use remains justified.

This has been carefully considered. Fixed cameras are only triggered to record by movement within their scope and public areas are excluded from scope. For mobile cameras on vehicles, these of necessity record public areas, but in this case recording is only kept if there is a trigger of accident, alarm, proximity or a manual trigger by the driver.

Cameras are not placed in enclosed areas where there is an expectation of privacy e.g. changing rooms, bathrooms/toilets etc.

Principle 3 There must be as much transparency in the use of a surveillance camera system as possible, including a published contact point for access to information and complaints.

This is provided by this policy.

Principle 4 There must be clear responsibility and accountability for all surveillance camera system activities including images and information collected, held and used.

The Director is responsible and accountable for all activities

Principle 5 Clear rules, policies and procedures must be in place before a surveillance camera system is used, and these must be communicated to all who need to comply with them.

These are provided by this policy

Principle 6 No more images and information should be stored than that which is strictly required for the stated purpose of a surveillance camera system, and such images and information should be deleted once their purposes have been discharged.

Recordings made by detection are deleted after 60 days unless action is taken to preserve them. This is only done where the recordings are required for one of the objectives noted above.

Principle 7 Access to retained images and information should be restricted and there must be clearly defined rules on who can gain access and for what purpose such access is granted; the disclosure of images and information should only take place when it is necessary for such a purpose or for law enforcement purposes.

Only the director can access images except where required by law enforcement or to meet an objective above.

Principle 8 Surveillance camera system operators should consider any approved operational, technical and competency standards relevant to a system and its purpose and work to meet and maintain those standards.

These have been considered. As a technical standard, we have a minimum image size of 1080p to ensure sufficient clarity.

Principle 9 Surveillance camera system images and information should be subject to appropriate security measures to safeguard against unauthorised access and use.

Images are stored on the servers at the registered office and its mirror in London, both of which are secure premises. The mobile images are captured on a memory stick locked in the glove compartment of the vehicles, and automatically transferred to the servers when the vehicle is parked at either the registered office or the London office.

Principle 10 There should be effective review and audit mechanisms to ensure legal requirements, policies and standards are complied with in practice, and regular reports should be published.

This policy is reviewed annually, the review date is at the end. No reporting is considered necessary.

Principle 11 When the use of a surveillance camera system is in pursuit of a legitimate aim, and there is a pressing need for its use, it should then be used in the most effective way to support public safety and law enforcement with the aim of processing images and information of evidential value.

This principle is supported by this document.

Principle 12 Any information used to support a surveillance camera system which compares against a reference database for matching purposes should be accurate and kept up to date.

No reference databases are used.

Last updated 27 Mar 2024