25 Nov CCTV in Schools
Is Your School CCTV Compliant? Navigating GDPR and Privacy Rules for Headteachers
Navigating the ICO guidelines while trying to secure your school grounds is a delicate balancing act. Your aim is to deter vandalism and bullying, but you really want to avoid a GDPR misstep. This guide to clarifies exactly what is required for the installation of CCTV in schools – from signage to data storage – so you can move forward confidently with protecting your school.
We’ve spent nearly two decades working specifically with the education sector. Since our inception in 2006, 1st Choice Security Systems has specialised in designing HD CCTV systems that satisfy both safety standards and resource managers. We know the layout of a busy school day, and we know how to make your security set-up totally compliant.
How Do I Make My School CCTV Legal?
Unravelling the legal guidance on installing CCTV in schools is a great starting point. Compliance, in this case, prioritises transparency. Here is how we ensure your system stays on the right side of the law.
- Have you completed your DPIA? – This is your first hurdle. A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) is a mandatory risk assessment that proves your CCTV is necessary and proportionate. If you haven’t written down why you need the cameras, you aren’t ready to install them.
- Are your signs visible and informative? – Putting up a camera without a sign is a breach of the law. Your signs need to answer two questions for any student or parent: “Why am I being filmed?” and “Who do I contact about it?”
- Is your footage being deleted automatically? – You cannot keep footage “just in case.” Most schools set their systems to delete footage after 30 days. Does your system do this automatically? If not, you are at risk of holding data longer than is legally defensible.
- Who is watching the screens? – Live feeds should never be visible in public reception areas. Ensure your recording equipment is in a locked room (like a server cupboard) and that it is password protected.
- Can you handle a Subject Access Request (SAR)? – If a parent asks for footage of their child, can you provide it – with other children’s faces blurred out – within one calendar month? Your installer needs to set up a system that makes exporting and redacting footage simple.
How 1st Choice Hard Bakes Compliance Into Your System
The easiest way to avoid a GDPR breach is to use a system that is designed to prevent one. At 1st Choice Security Systems, we use our experience in the education sector to set up CCTV in schools correctly for this purpose. We handle the technical “heavy lifting” to support your compliance aims.
Our installation process includes:
- Strategic Camera Placement – We conduct a preliminary site walk-through to ensure cameras cover high-risk areas without infringing on privacy, so you have the coverage you need for the DPIA.
- Cyber-Security Hardening – A common ICO failure is leaving cameras on default passwords. We secure your network and set up complex passwords and a range of access levels so only authorised personnel can view the feed.
- Evidence Retrieval Support – In case you need to supply footage to parents or the police, we make sure you know exactly how to download it in a tamper-proof format.
FAQs – What Headteachers Need to Know
You likely have questions that are specific to your school. To help out, here are some questions we’re regularly asked when we’re carrying out site surveys.
1. “Can I record sound on my school cameras?”
It’s best to rule this out, in our experience. Audio recording can capture conversations between staff and students, which it’s difficult to justify under GDPR. We usually disable the audio features on our school installations to keep you safe from complaints.
2. “Can I put a camera in the toilets to stop vaping or vandalism?”
We know this isn’t the answer you want, but no, you cannot. Toilets and changing rooms are private spaces. Alternatively, you could install a vandal-proof camera in the hallway pointing at the toilet door, so you can track who enters and exits at the time of an incident.
3. “Is it okay to use dummy cameras as a deterrent?”
We wouldn’t advise it. “Dummy” cameras can land you in legal trouble. If a student is assaulted in front of a dummy camera, the school can be sued for failing to provide the security it appears to have in place. It is safer to have fewer, working cameras than many fake ones.
4. “Do I need parental consent to share footage with the Police?”
No. If the police need footage to investigate a crime, you are allowed to hand it over without asking parents first. You should, however, make sure that the transfer is secure and you’ll need to document exactly what was handed over and to which officer.
The 1st Choice Approach to School Security
We know that for a resources manager, due diligence is everything. You need an installer who ticks every box regarding safety and quality assurance. That is the 1st Choice standard.
We guarantee total compliance on site – our installers are DBS-checked for your safeguarding records, and we are SafeContractor approved, demonstrating our ability to work safely and efficiently within a school environment. Additionally, our operations are managed to the ISO 9001:2015 standard, guaranteeing you a high-quality installation that stands the test of time.
Take the next step.
Secure your students, staff, and site with confidence. Call us today to talk to one of our education security specialists about CCTV in schools – 0800 118 2414
