16 Apr 2020, 09:00

A charity shop volunteer complained to our office after discovering CCTV cameras in the shop they worked at was recording audio without the knowledge of customers or other staff.

Whilst there was signage in the store advising that CCTV was in operation, the sign did not warn that there was audio recording. The volunteer felt uncomfortable that their conversations in the shop were being recorded. They also suspected that there might be audio recording in the break room. They spoke with the manager and contacted head office with their concerns but felt unhappy with the response This led the volunteer to resign from their position at the shop and contact OPC to complain.

The Complaint

This complaint raised issues under principle 1, 3 and 4 of the Privacy Act. Under principle 1, an agency must not collect personal information unless it is for a lawful purpose connected with a function or activity of the agency, and collection is necessary for that purpose.

Under principle 3, when an agency collects personal information, it should take reasonable steps to ensure the individual concerned is aware of the fact of what is being collected.

Under principle 4 of the Privacy Act, an agency must not collect information in an unlawful or unfair way, or in a way which intrudes to an unreasonable extent upon the personal affairs of the individual involved.

Our response

We contacted the charity shop and communicated the complainant’s concerns. Our correspondence expressed the Commissioner’s view that audio recording throughout the store was unreasonably intrusive. We asked for the shop’s management to advise of the location of each of their surveillance cameras and the purpose for collecting this information.

We also told them to advise the public and its employees that audio surveillance was taking place. We recommended they have a robust policy around storage and retention, and that audio recordings not be kept for longer than necessary. We said that as the cameras capture personal information, members of the public, staff and volunteers had the right to access that information under principle 6 of the Privacy Act.

Finally, we recommended the shop issue an apology to the complainant for the distress caused.

Their response

The store’s management told us that audio recording assisted with customer complaints stating that it provided additional information and context to the video stream. This helped them with “retrospective analysis of any incident”.

In response to our recommendations, the charity shop advised us that they had permanently disabled the audio capability in four of their six in store cameras with the exception of those at point of sale and one other area. They confirmed that no recording, audio or otherwise, was taking place in the break room.

They said they had strengthened guidance for public and staff for any audio captured from the system and had committed to upgrading signage which would state “this camera records audio”.

We gave the complainant a Certificate of Investigation and advised them of their right to take the complaint to the Human Rights Review Tribunal should they wish to do. We then closed the complaint.