Mrs XX - natural person – Violation Found (Italy, 2023)

On 6 July 2021, a station of the Italian Carabinieri reported to the DPA that the private party in this proceeding (the controller), installed a surveillance system on the external wall of her property. Reportedly, the surveillance system in question was recording the public area in front of the controller’s property, including a nearby playground and a public square. Pursuant to [https://www.garanteprivacy.it/documents/10160/0/Codice+in+materia+di+protezione+dei+dati+personali+%28Testo+coordinato%29 Article 157 of the Italian Privacy Code], the DPA opened a preliminary investigation. During the investigation carried out on 2 March 2023, the DPA noted that the video surveillance system was made up of two recording devices. The first camera, a 360-degree camera, was active and could record images as well as audio and speak through the microphone. The camera was positioned right above the entrance door, and the controller controlled the camera through a smartphone application. The second camera was connected but not active, and it was looking over the driveway that leads to the entrance of the building. In relation to the viewing angle of the cameras, the controller declared that the first camera, due to its characteristics, could also frame part of the nearby playground, although it was not in her interest to do so. She further clarified that the video surveillance had been installed due to incidents of damage or explicit threats received and that she wanted to utilise the footage for the purpose of lodging complaints. On 15 June 2023, the controller took measures to replace the first camera with a fixed camera model pointed only towards the entrance of her property to bring the processing in compliance with the GDPR. In the outcome of the investigation, the DPA first considered whether the GDPR applied to the data processing carried out by the controller. In principle, under Article 2(2)(c) GDPR, the use of video surveillance systems by natural persons in their p