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For various reasons we are considering installing security cameras at our small apartment block.
No manager, just a secretary (me) and assistant secretary.
So if we install the cameras it would be up to the two of us to review after an incident and provide to police if required.
However, if any other owner wants a live feed is it appropriate? If the tenant wants a live feed we’re resistant but can we deny them?
The same questions about access are applicable to stored footage as well. Finally, how long do we have to store the footage before we can delete it?
Is there any protocol on this issue? Or even law?
Based in Victoria.
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In Victoria, the Surveillance Devices Act 1999 applies.
IMO, the main parts of that Act, applicable to an OC are s.6 and s.7:
6 Regulation of installation, use and maintenance of listening devices
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a person must not knowingly install, use or maintain a listening device to overhear, record, monitor or listen to a private conversation to which the person is not a party, without the express or implied consent of each party to the conversation.7 Regulation of installation, use and maintenance of optical surveillance devices
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a person must not knowingly install, use or maintain an optical surveillance device to record visually or observe a private activity to which the person is not a party, without the express or implied consent of each party to the activity.So basically the OC should not record private conversations or private activities without consent. Most CCTV installations don’t record sound so the issue is generally about vision only. As long as the cameras view public or common areas and do not view into areas where private activities could take place (eg into the private apartment areas) and if signs state that there are CCTV cameras in the area (which some say is the implied consent), there shouldn’t be any legal problems.
Access to the vision is up to the OC to decide. Eg the committee could do it on a case-by-case basis if that was their wish. Some OCs allow live footage of the street door and lobby areas – similar to intercoms. Some don’t.
AFAIK there’s no rules on how long the vision needs to be kept. Most CCTV systems can be set to automatically overwrite the oldest recording. It means that the size of the system’s hard disk determines how long the vision is stored.
I don’t have a precise answer for you but have been involved in the CCTV at a number of buildings where I have been on the committee.
In one complex it was the Secretary and one other SC member that had access. In my current building it is the part time Building Manager and one SC member that have access. In both buildings the Strata Manager had the username and password but never needed to get involved.
In both buildings if a resident complained of theft, vandalism, people parking on common property etc, one of the two authorised people would view the footage and if they found something would copy it over to a USB key to give to Police, send a photo to the offender with a warning etc. If a resident really wanted to, they could sit with that person at the time and watch while it was being done. This was only taken up once, and the resident ended up being thoroughly bored as 48 hours of footage had to be watched, which at 16x still took 3 hours without the pausing and rewinding to check as it went on.
I can not see any legitimate reason that a resident would need a live feed. One good practice though is to have a monitor showing all the cameras displayed prominently, say in a foyer.
Have a look at http://www.flatchat.com.au/forum/another-day-in-paradise/surveillance/ as there are a few good points also.
The same by-law that allows for the installation of the CCTV should establish who can view the footage and under what circumstances.
A sensible suggestion might be any strata committee officer, the strata manager/building manager, the police or any lot owner subject to the written approval of the strata committee and at their own expense.
Note I have excluded ordinary strata committee members – that would be a point for discussion.
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To note that in the OP’s Victoria a Special Resolution would probably not be needed to install a CCTV system. A committee decision alone would probably be enough.
In larger OCs in Victoria, Special Resolutions can be very difficult to achieve. A SR in Victoria, at the very minimum, needs at least need 50% of owners to actually vote – something which alone is almost mission impossible in larger OCs. They also must vote in favour.
The OC could consider making a rule (the Victoria equivalent of a by-law) about the access but creating a rule again needs a SR! In my experience it’s best left to the committee to decide the circumstances of giving access. That also provides for some flexibility.
To avoid the difficulty of getting a special resolution and since the committee has to act in accordance with directions of general meetings, perhaps the EC could just decide as Austman suggests but the committee could choose to also propose an ordinary resolution at a general meeting along the lines that JT suggests about who can view the footage. That way the committee would be seen to be acting openly by volunteering to be constrained by the OC’s guidance. Also, the current committee, who might be thoroughly decent and reasonable, could be seen to be wisely putting constraints on future committees who might not be so wise.
@Sir Humphrey said:
perhaps the EC could just decide as Austman suggests but the committee could choose to also propose an ordinary resolution at a general meeting along the lines that JT suggests about who can view the footageYes, that can work. A committee decision can’t override a full OC decision. And if done at the next AGM it shouldn’t even cost the OC anything in additional meeting expenses.
But, as I know from committee and chair experience in my OCs with CCTV systems, any resolution does need a bit of care in the wording to give it the flexibility that invariably will be needed – so it usually has to include letting the committee decide.