Limerick gardaí defend use of CCTV despite multiple GDPR breaches
Gardaí stressed the importance of CCTV in assisting with Garda investigations and their role in solving crimes. Picture: Denis Minihane
Gardaí in Limerick have defended the widespread use of CCTV in crime detection despite a €110,000 fine issued by the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC).
Following a three-year investigation into its use of CCTV, Limerick City and County Council have been fined by the DPC.
The DPC found there was a breach of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 50 separate instances.
The investigation looked at the legal basis for the installation of more than 250 cameras over the past 15 years and the associated data protection concerns they raised.
The DPC found that, in multiple instances, there was no legal basis or Garda authorisation for the installation of cameras.
Now, a joint policing committee has heard that both the council and gardaí are looking to get their “house in order” as they work towards “seeking a legal basis for CCTV in Limerick”.
Garda Inspector Sandra Heelan said when CCTV schemes are applied for, they must go through a process which is part of the Garda Síochána act, where the commissioner gives permission for these schemes to be set up.
She said this application was in response to the DPC report. The JPC also heard the €110,000 fine was yet to be paid.
The application is for an already existing 376 cameras, grouped into four areas, and does not include any new cameras.
If the cameras do not get approval under the Garda Síochána Act, many of them will have to be turned off on April 12.
Public consultations will take place over the coming weeks, and a data protection assessment will be carried out on each individual camera.
The JPC heard there would likely be some cameras lost as they do not meet the criteria for retention.
Ms Heelan stressed the importance of CCTV in assisting with Garda investigations and gave an example of the “heinous” murder of Rose Hanrahan in 2017. Gardaí download 70,000 hours of footage from the council to help with their prosecution.
“It played an integral role in the solving of this crime, and without it, we wouldn't have a man serving life imprisonment,” Ms Heelan added.
She also quoted Paddy Flannery, a Moyross resident and manager of the Moyross CCTV scheme, who said CCTV had allowed children to play outside, people to go for walks and had provided a sense of safety and security to the residents.
Alan Dooley, head of digital strategy with Limerick City and County Council, explained that Limerick City and County Council and An Garda Síochána will enter a formal “joint data controller agreement’ as part of the application process.
He added he had a high level of confidence that all remediations needed would be done to gain the Garda Commissioner’s approval ahead of the April 12 cut-off date.
Mr Dooley reminded the meeting that if they did not get the approval of the JPC on this motion, they soon “won’t have any cameras”. The members of the JPC voted unanimously to approve the application.
Limerick solicitor Rossa McMahon, a partner at PG McMahon solicitors in Newcastle West, had first raised his concerns regarding the council’s use of CCTV in 2017, with the subject subsequently taken up by the DPC in the context of all 31 local authorities.
Mr McMahon said it was positive to hear the council and gardaí are taking steps to implement the directions of the DPC.
“Contrary to some commentary on the issue, the DPC did not ban CCTV and GDPR does not ban it. The issue is that the council has not operated their surveillance network in accordance with the law. The breaches found by the DPC have been clear since at least 2017 but the council did not remedy them in the intervening years,” he said.
Mr McMahon said it was appropriate that gardaí would seek to use whatever evidence might be available to them in detecting and investigating crimes.
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