DPA case PS/00023/2020 – Violation Found (Spain, 2020)

The Spanish DPA analyzed the possible unlawfulness of the installation of a video surveillance system composed of 3 cameras located outside a house in SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, a system that could capture images of neighbouring areas of houses in a disproportionate manner, as well as an automatic door phone for private use outside the building, all without the corresponding authorization of the Neighbours' Community. The authorization of the Homeowners' Association has not been accredited for the installation of the above-mentioned devices, having to comply with the requirements established by Law 49/1960 of 21 July on horizontal property (LPH). This law regulates that the installation of a video surveillance system by a private individual will require the authorization of the Community of Owners' Meeting both when it is planned to be located in a common area and when, even if located in a private use area, it is oriented towards surrounding common areas and captures - respecting, in any case, the principle of data minimization - tangentially these common areas. Is the installation of security cameras that capture images of the neighborhood and the street a violation of Article 5 (1) (c) GDPR? The Spanish DPA has found that the facts of the present proceedings show that 2 of the 3 cameras installed by the claimant capture a disproportionate share of communal areas, neighbouring housing, and even public roads. This situation is not covered by the exclusion set out in Article 22.5 of LOPDGDD as the capture of images that exceed the verification about the identity of people trying to access an address beyond the treatment "carried out by a natural person in the exercise of exclusively private or domestic activities" of Article 2.2.c) of the RGPD. The same consideration must be extended to the video door entry system installed on the exterior wall of the Community, since its location cannot be compared to the video door phone installed at the front door of a house. As