Brussels, 14/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 14 November, the supervisory authority declared in a press release that the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) had issued his rather mixed report on the European institutions' implementation of the guidelines on video-surveillance. The EDPS carried out on-the-spot inspections between 15 June and 18 July 2012 on the premises of 13 Brussels-based EU institutions and bodies, including the Council of the EU, the Committee of the Regions, the European Anti-Fraud Office, the European Commission and the European External Action Service. According to the conclusions from these findings, “With one exception, the EDPS is pleased that on-the-spot notices are available at all the institutions and bodies inspected. The EDPS noted, however, that there is significant room for improvement in the content of these notices, as only one on-the-spot notice actually provided all the information foreseen by the Guidelines for those captured on CCTV”.
The EDPS is reasonably satisfied that, with the exception of two, all institutions and bodies will provide a data protection notice if requested. The EDPS, however, regretted that, “the content of the notices fail to meet EDPS expectations and are not in line with the express requirements of the Guidelines which outline user-friendly language, format and content”. The EDPS, however, is delighted that the Council, the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee have made a public version of their video-surveillance policy available online but, “is disappointed that other bodies under the same obligation have so far not done so”. The EDPS had to evaluate the existence, location and content of selected on the spot notices highlighting that the area is under surveillance; the availability and the content of a data protection notice at the reception or via security personnel; and the availability and the content of an online policy. (SP/trans/fl)