DPA case NAIH-3734-15/2023 – Complaint Upheld (Hungary, 2023)

The Hungarian DPA received a complaint from a data subject regarding the presence of surveillance cameras outside the controller's shop ocovering a wide public area in front of its entrance. Due to the angle and distance of the cameras, the people recorded were not identifiable since the image of an adult person, for example, could only be recorded up to the waist. A warning sign of camera surveillance and an information sheet were present at the store's entrance, as well as on the gate next to the store's entrance and on the panel covering the front door when the store is closed. Following a request by the DPA on 8 March 2023, the controller made a minor modification to the camera's field of view by means of physical masking in such a way that it covered only a smaller portion of the public road. The controller further explained that the legal basis for the surveillance in question was its legitimate interest: to prevent and detect theft and vandalism. To corroborate this, the controller gave a few examples of incidents and explained that some burglars covered their faces when entering the shop, meaning that it was not sufficient to observe only the shop. The controller also presented an assessment weighing the interest of privacy against his legitimate interest in protecting his property. He explained that storage of the images was necessary to reconstruct what happened and discover who committed the infraction during an investigation. Considering the balancing assessment presented by the controller, the DPA acknowledged that the controller had a legitimate interest in installing the surveillance system. However, the DPA found relevant to consider whether it was necessary and proportionate for the surveillance system to also cover certain parts of public areas. In this respect, the DPA stated that the controller failed to justify why the camera surveillance could also cover areas not part of the property. Moreover, considering that surveilling the public area in