On 14 January 2021, the Irish Data Protection Commission (“DPC”) released domestic CCTV guidance, following a large number of complaints received from individuals about the operation of CCTV in a domestic setting, usually at neighboring properties.
Among others, DPC clarifies that a domestic CCTV system capturing only images of people within the perimeter of the CCTV operator’s own property is not subject to data protection law due to the personal or household exemption. However, such exemption does not apply when a domestic CCTV system captures images or sounds of people outside of the perimeter of the CCTV operator’s own property, for example in their homes or their gardens or on public footpaths or streets. This approach is in line with the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Case of Rnyeš (C-212/13).
The guidance sets out also the rules for operating a CCTV system in order to comply with data protection law requirments, as well as the effects for failure to ensure such compliance.
The blog post is available here and the guidance is available here.
