Question: Our CCTV policy states that request for access to footage must be received within 7 days, otherwise we override the footage. Is this compliant?
Our current CCTV system has an overriding cycle of seven days. Our published and available policy states residents and guests need to ask for footage within seven days, after which a copy will be made for their viewing indefinitely and kept on record.
Does this make us compliant with BC record legislation? Or do we have to start archiving weeks of essentially nothing?
Answer: Seven days is not long enough.
Chris Irons, Strata Solve:
This comes back to the purpose of ‘why’ again, and if you instal CCTV, come back to the point I made earlier, you’ve got to expect that at some point, access to it will become an issue.
So from the body corporate perspective, if you’ve got the CCTV there and somebody wants it, they want it for a reason. Writing over means that will not be available. The question ‘Are you being compliant that way?’, well the legislation in Queensland has not specified something about footage, it certainly has specified the length of time of record that needs to be kept, hasn’t it Frank?
Frank Higginson, Hynes Legal:
I think it’s six years, isn’t it?
Chris Irons, Strata Solve:
Yes. Six or seven?
Frank Higginson, Hynes Legal:
Yes. I’m just trying to look up the legislation now. That is a really interesting question, that one.
I suppose this then is almost coming back to what’s acting reasonably as well. But that’s a really interesting question.
I would say, gut feel, that seven days is not long enough. That would be my immediate take on it. Particularly with the technology that’s available today, in terms of keeping stuff in the cloud etc. I think you’ve probably got the ability to get to 30 or 60 days without much difficulty, and probably without much corresponding cost to start with. Seven days might only just be enough for you to realise that something’s actually happened and you need to request that footage. So you don’t automatically know about something that’s gone wrong to you that happened yesterday. You might find out in six weeks for whatever reason.
Keeping the footage for longer than seven days, I think is not unreasonable. But I think keeping it for seven years. I mean, I don’t know. That’s a really, really interesting question in terms of the statutory obligation versus what’s acting reasonably. Chris, you gave the example before about someone asking for $10,000 worth of information. That’s a problem for Mr or Mrs Requester, to figure that out and fund it. If it’s gonna cost the body corporate 10s of 1000s of dollars to keep seven years worth of footage, then I don’t think that’s necessarily reasonable, but more than seven days is not unreasonable.
Chris Irons, Strata Solve:
What if it’s the police who want that footage in more than seven days time and they’re investigating a serious crime, and it just so happens that your footage is going to be central to that? Are you going to feel comfortable saying ‘I’m sorry, we overrode it after seven days’? I’m not sure that you would feel comfortable.
Frank Higginson, Hynes Legal:
I’ve just looked up the legislation in relation to records. Documents may be disposed of (documents – we don’t have digital documents yet), the following documents may be disposed of two years after their creation:
- correspondence of no significance or continuing interest.
I’d respectfully submit that certainly CCTV footage 2 years later that hasn’t been called on definitely falls within that. So, it’s no more than two years. But whether you have to keep it for two years is then the next question, but I don’t think it’s seven.
Chris Irons Strata Solve E: chris@stratasolve.com.au P: 0419 805 898
Frank Higginson Hynes Legal E: frank.higginson@hyneslegal.com.au P: 07 3193 0500