Judgment Approved by the court for handing down.
R (Bridges) -v- CC South Wales & ors
life, home and correspondence, as provided for by Article 8 of
the ECHR.”
“2.3 That is not to say that all surveillance camera systems use
technology which has a high potential to intrude on the right to
respect for private and family life. Yet this code must regulate
that potential, now and in the future. In considering the potential
to interfere with the right to privacy, it is important to take
account of the fact that expectations of privacy are both varying
and subjective. In general terms, one of the variables is
situational, and in a public place there is a zone of interaction
with others which may fall within the scope of private life. An
individual can expect to be the subject of surveillance in a public
place as CCTV, for example, is a familiar feature in places that
the public frequent. An individual can, however, rightly expect
surveillance in public places to be both necessary and
proportionate, with appropriate safeguards in place.”
“2.4 The decision to use any surveillance camera technology
must, therefore, be consistent with a legitimate aim and a
pressing need. Such a legitimate aim and pressing need must be
articulated clearly and documented as the stated purpose for any
deployment. The technical design solution for such a
deployment should be proportionate to the stated purpose rather
than driven by the availability of funding or technological
innovation. Decisions over the most appropriate technology
should always take into account its potential to meet the stated
purpose without unnecessary interference with the right to
privacy and family life. Furthermore, any deployment should not
continue for longer than necessary.”
“3.2.3 Any use of facial recognition or other biometric
characteristic recognition systems needs to be clearly justified
and proportionate in meeting the stated purpose, and be suitably
validated4. It should always involve human intervention before
decisions are taken that affect an individual adversely.”
(Footnote 4: “The Surveillance Camera Commissioner will be a
source of advice on validation of such systems.”)
“4.8.1 Approved standards may apply to the system
functionality, the installation and the operation and maintenance
of a surveillance camera system. These are usually focused on
typical CCTV installations, however there may be additional
standards applicable where the system has specific advanced
capability such as ANPR, video analytics or facial recognition
systems, or where there is a specific deployment scenario, for
example the use of body-worn video recorders.”
“4.12.1 Any use of technologies such as ANPR or facial
recognition systems which may rely on the accuracy of
information generated elsewhere such as databases provided by