DPA case 2021010073 – Complaint Upheld (Iceland, 2021)
General GDPR enforcement action
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A neighbor in Iceland installed surveillance cameras that monitored shared and public areas, which led to a complaint from another resident. The Icelandic Data Protection Authority ruled that the neighbor's actions violated data protection laws because they couldn't justify the need for monitoring. This case serves as a warning about the limits of using surveillance in residential areas.
What happened
The neighbor's surveillance cameras captured footage of shared and public spaces without a valid justification.
Who was affected
Residents and passersby who could be filmed by the neighbor's surveillance cameras.
What the authority found
The Icelandic DPA concluded that the neighbor did not demonstrate a legitimate interest that outweighed the rights of those being filmed.
Why this matters
This ruling underscores the importance of respecting privacy in shared living environments. Individuals should be cautious about installing surveillance that affects others.
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A private individual (the Complainant) filed a complaint with the Icelandic DPA on the ground that the Complainant's neighbor, who lived on the upper floor of the same house, had installed three surveillance cameras for monitoring the house and its surroundings. In particular, the field of vision of these cameras covered the common garden of the house, the Complainant's car park, the surrounding plots, as well as the street and sidewalk in front of the house. The Complainant argued that the processing of personal data through those surveillance cameras was not complying with the applicable data protection law. The Icelandic DPA first recalled that the monitoring of a private property via surveillance cameras could fall outside of the scope of the GDPR in line with Article 2(2)(c) GDPR (i.e. processing of personal data "by a natural person in the course of a purely personal or household activity"). In the case at hand, however, the field of vision of the three cameras covered some shared areas (such as the common garden of the house) and some public areas (such as the sidewalk in front of the house). As a consequence, the processing of personal data was not covered by the household exemption set in Article 2(2)(c) GDPR, and had to comply with the rules and principles of the GDPR. The Icelandic DPA then considered whether such processing could be justified on the basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR (i.e. processing is "necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller (...), except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject (...)). After balancing the legitimate interest of the neighbor to monitor the shared property with the right and freedoms of the Complainant, as well as any other individuals who could have been filmed by those cameras, the Icelandic DPA concluded that the neighbor had failed to demonstrate the need to monitor the covered areas. As a consequences, the Icel
Outcome
Complaint Upheld
A data subject complaint that was upheld by the DPA.
Related Enforcement Actions (0)
No other enforcement actions found for DPA case 2021010073 in IS
This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. DPA case 2021010073 - Iceland (2021). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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