Yes, Local Authorities can use CCTV systems as part of their efforts to deal with both anti-social behaviour and illegal dumping subject to the following steps:

1. Identify a specific purpose for deploying CCTV in a particular location or locations.
2. Carry out a site-specific data protection impact assessment of the necessity and proportionality of using CCTV.
3. Implement all necessary governance requirements, such as formal approval by the Garda Commissioner or internal Oversight Board.
4. Put in place safeguards to protect the rights of affected individuals, and the integrity and confidentiality of personal data recorded by the system.
5. Monitor the effectiveness of safeguards on an ongoing basis, and review the requirement for deployment of cameras in the specific location.

Since 2018, the DPC has conducted a number of investigations and inquiries into the use of surveillance technology by public bodies. These actions have highlighted particular instances of the operation of CCTV cameras by Local Authorities without a lawful basis that meets the standard of precision, clarity, and foreseeability required by EU law. As a result, the DPC has implemented corrective measures, issued recommendations, and engaged in consultation with the local government sector to bring the use of such technologies into compliance with data protection law.

Anti-Social Behaviour

With regard to the use of CCTV to tackle anti-social behaviour, Local Authorities are empowered to approve a community based CCTV scheme for authorisation by the Garda Commissioner under Section 38 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, and the Garda Síochána (CCTV) Order, 2006. The primary purpose of a community based CCTV scheme is to secure public order and safety in public places by facilitating the deterrence, prevention, detection and prosecution of offences. As CCTV deployed in this manner will process the personal data of individuals, it must also meet the requirements of data protection law. In particular, there must be an assessment made of the necessity and proportionality of the measure, balancing the public interest in maintaining public order and safety with the intrusion upon the data protection and privacy rights of affected members of the public.

Illegal Dumping

As a result of inquiries conducted by the DPC, it was determined that the legislation relied upon by Local Authorities to use CCTV to tackle illegal dumping (the Waste Management Act,1996 and the Litter Pollution Act, 1997) did not meet the standards of EU law in providing a lawful basis to process personal data. The Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 2022, remedied the legislative gap in this context by providing for the lawful deployment of recording technology, including CCTV, for the enforcement of litter pollution and waste management legislation subject to statutory codes of practice. The DPC has worked closely with the local government sector on the development of three codes of practice for local authorities to use CCTV and mobile recording devices to investigate and prosecute certain waste and litter-pollution related offences.

The DPC’s aim in these regulatory actions has been to ensure that where Local Authorities seek to utilise technological solutions in the public interest to tackle issues such as anti-social behaviour and illegal dumping, they do so in a manner that adheres to the principles of data protection, and is proportionate in terms of its impact upon the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals. The governance mechanisms outlined in law by the Garda Síochána Act, 2005 and the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 2022 provide Local Authorities with clear frameworks to implement CCTV schemes and systems as part of a range of measures to tackle issues of concern, in compliance with the requirements of EU data protection law.

Local Authority Codes of Practice under the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 2022:

Code of Practice for the Operation of CCTV for the Purposes of Prevention, Detection & Prosecution of Waste Offences

Code of Practice for the use of Mobile Recording Devices for the Purposes of Prevention, Detection and Prosecution of Waste Offences

Code of Practice for the Operation of CCTV for the Purposes of Prevention, Detection & Prosecution of Litter Offences