CCTV

Carmarthenshire County Council has over 250 CCTV systems and over 1500 cameras.

The Council uses surveillance cameras for various purposes. These include CCTV at Council buildings such as libraries and leisure centres, car parks as well as on the highway, body worn cameras, drones, dash cameras and automatic number plate recognition.

The Council has a policy on the management of its CCTV. Each department has identified Leads for CCTV and responsible officers who manage individual systems day to day.

It is important that everyone involved with operating CCTV systems understands why the system has been introduced and what the cameras should and should not be used for.

There is a separate CCTV Policy that relates to Schools.

Key guidance in the Council’s CCTV policy:

• Purchasing: The purchasing of CCTV cameras and equipment - Permission must be obtained prior to the procurement of any systems. If you are looking to install a new CCTV system or make changes to an existing one, contact your departmental lead. They will then assist with the completion of the CCTV Approval Form.
• Monitoring: The ability to view the CCTV system monitors must be restricted to those authorised to see them.
• Viewing: Viewings of live and recorded footage must only be carried out for a specific legitimate purpose. The casual viewing or trawling of footage is strictly forbidden.
• Signage: All areas where fixed site CCTV is in use should be clearly signed. Such signs warn people that they are about to enter an area covered by a CCTV system or to remind them that they are still in an area covered by a CCTV system.
• Storage: CCTV system images are stored generally for 30 days and then automatically overwritten.
• Access: Under Article 15 of the UK GDPR, everyone has the right to access information held about them by the Council and to have a copy of that personal data. Such requests must be made in writing to the Data Protection Officer, County Hall, Carmarthen, SA31 1JP or via dataprotection@carmarthenshire.gov.uk

If you have any queries about CCTV, please contact your departmental lead.

Covert Surveillance

Covert cameras are not permitted to be deployed under the auspices of this policy. Such activities fall under the ambit of RIPA or shadow RIPA and authorisation must be obtained for such activity under the relevant RIPA procedures.

CCTV systems should normally be clearly visible with unobstructed signage situated close to the device informing those in the vicinity that they are being monitored and/or recorded. The content of such a sign or notice may differ according to the nature of the device being used, the area it is being used in and the purpose of its use. Please contact CELegalServices@carmarthenshire.gov.uk for further information on RIPA.