Corporate CCTV Policy - March 2026

8. Viewing footage

8.1. CCTV footage viewing must be conducted solely for legitimate reasons, such as operational needs or surveillance and monitoring at a site to prevent crime or antisocial behaviour. The Council, along with the Service Lead Officer, will define the use of the CCTV system on a site-by-site basis. 
 
8.2. The casual viewing or trawling of footage is strictly forbidden. Viewings must only be carried out for a specific, legitimate purpose. Inappropriate access must be reported and may lead to disciplinary action.  

8.3. Under Article 15 of the UK GDPR, data subjects have the right to access information held about them by the Council and to have a copy of that personal data.  Individuals also have the right to access images of themselves recorded on CCTV systems controlled by the Council.  Such requests must be made in writing to the Data Protection Officer, County Hall, Carmarthen, SA31 1 JP dataprotection@carmarthenshire.gov.uk  Please see our website for further details: Data Protection - Carmarthenshire County Council
 
8.4. In the event of a request being received by another officer, that officer should contact the Data Protection Officer to discuss the request.   
 
8.5. On occasion, council services may wish to access images and recordings captured on CCTV systems as part of a legitimate investigation into criminal activities, civil claims, potential disciplinary matters, complaints, grievances or health and safety issues. Viewings and images will only be released to a properly authorised investigating council officer upon the submission of a formal request to the Service Lead Officer.  The viewing request should include: 
 
•    The name of the authorising officer  
•    The name and contact details of the person viewing images 
•    The reason for viewing the images. 
 
8.6. Police requests for footage generally fall within the exemption outlined in Schedule 2, Part 1, Paragraph 2 of the Data Protection Act 2018. Access is authorised for the purposes of preventing or detecting crime, or apprehending or prosecuting offenders. Withholding access may impede these objectives, thereby invoking the exemption and permitting the release of such footage. 
 
8.7. Viewing Requests must be made in a timely manner as the retention period for most CCTV systems in operation in the council is one month. Council officers who are subject to council disciplinary, complaints or grievance procedures have the right to see and retain footage of themselves and can request copies as a Subject Access request as outlined in 8.3.  
 
8.8. On occasion, police officers may request to view images taken from CCTV systems during the investigation of criminal activity. This is generally permitted under an exemption in the UK GDPR.  
 
8.9. Insurance companies and solicitors may request footage for personal injury or employers' liability claims, often due to car park damage disputes. As the footage may identify drivers or vehicles, it is considered personal information. Copies can be requested via a Subject Access Request to the Information and Data Protection Officer (see 8.3). Consult the Risk Management team as needed. 
 
8.10.    A record of all disclosures is kept by the Data Protection Officer for a period of five years after administrative use is concluded.  Details of any disclosures will also be recorded on the template held relating to the system which records all occasions when images are viewed.