These guidelines were developed using recommendations published by the Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ontario, in Guidelines for Using Video Surveillance Cameras in Schools (2003).
Vandalism and thefts have taken place in computing labs on campus. At least some computer labs need to be open 24 hours a day and on weekends, and so it is not practical to have regular supervision by Arts Computing Staff. Further, the Campus Police have indicated that they are not in a position to increase their patrolling of campus buildings. It is believed that the presence of video surveillance within ACO's computer labs will act as a deterrent to theft and vandalism and/or allow the identification of individuals responsible for thefts or vandalism.
Apart from periodic spot-checks to ensure that the recording system is functioning properly, which will be carried out when no one is present in the labs, the recorded video will never be viewed by ACO personnel unless there is good reason to believe that vandalism or theft has taken place (e.g., an item in the lab is found to be missing or deliberately damaged) in order to identify the perpetrator(s) of theft or vandalism. In the event that ACO personnel are given reason to believe that some other criminal offense took place in one of the labs and thus may have been recorded, the recordings will be secured and law enforcement officials will be consulted as to whether the recordings should be viewed.
Viewings of recordings will always be done by at least two persons, one of whom must be either the Associate Dean of Arts, Computing, or the Manager, Arts Computing Office. A written record will be created each time recordings are viewed which will clearly state the reason for the viewing; the time period covered by the recordings that were viewed; the findings of the viewing; and the personnel who did the viewing.
Unless there is reason to view the recordings (i.e., unless there is good reason to believe that vandalism or theft has taken place), the recordings will be erased unviewed from the hard drive no more than 10 days after being recorded. Segments of recordings that have been viewed and which appear to document theft or vandalism will be retained for a period of at least one year, after which they will be destroyed unless required for evidentiary purposes by law enforcement authorities. The hard drive on which the recordings are made will be completely erased before it is disposed of.
The following message will be prominently displayed in labs in which surveillance is being done:
Due to instances of theft and vandalism in computer labs across campus, video surveillance equipment has been installed in this lab. The video images captured by this equipment are being recorded. In the event of vandalism or theft occurring, the recordings will be viewed in order to identify the person(s) responsible. If you have any questions about this video surveillance policy you should consult policies.html and/or contact the Associate Dean of Arts, Computing, Dr. Robert Park, PAS 2032; Phone 888-4567.
Printer-friendly version