Being Videoed without your permission at work.

Chief

Lo laeds! :O)
The Boss has been calling a number of meetings and been videoing employees during these meetings. He has not gotten any permission from the employees to film them talking about their jobs / departments and when asked about the video he has refused to comment. Is this legal? If we decline to appear on video and he gets píssed can he slap us around or give us the boot?

Itd be nice to know.. because it seems really big brotherish etc.

Thanks in advance for any help you have to offer folks :O)

Ive also posted this in work, im not sure which would be the best place for this.

lynchie

AFAIK, it is illegal for any company to videotape its employees without displaying notices indicating that you are being recorded first. The recorded footage can only be used for security reasons, i.e. ensuring nobody is robbing the place blind etc.. Under no circumstances can the footage be used for general playing amongst staff members, i.e. your boss cannot record one room and then show the footage to another bunch of people in another room.

I could be wrong on this so please correct me if I am.

b20uvkft6m5xwg

It seems like he is just documenting the meeting by using video. He is also making you aware of this fact, so it seems alright to me.

If you or your colleagues are uncomfortable with this then you make your feelings known. I appreciate it could be a little off putting, but there seems to be nothing iillegal about it.

It may be prudent to find out why he is using this medium and what he intends to do with it. It also may be wise to try and broach the subject collectively if you feel you maybe singled out as a trouble maker

HTH

DadaKopf

As far as I'm aware, he's not permitted to broadcast it unless you consent. It's legal for a person to record a conversation so long as both parties are aware but to broadcast (i.e. show it to a third party), that requires your consent.

Chief

Thanks to everyone who has replied...

80p, the fact the camera is being turned on before anybody enters the room. Nothing is mentioned, no permission is asked at all and we are 100% certain that the tapes are reviewed by the the person holding the meeting and the MD afterwards is all very unsettling, quite a few employees are annoyed about this. But have been given no choice to decline or accept. Also, each dept is being interviewed and recorded seperately, not just one big company meeting.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks!

b20uvkft6m5xwg

The lack of consent would seem to suggest he is acting above his authority. Having just checked The CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION you could try this angle if you were to approach your boss.

Article 8
Protection of personal data

1.Everyone has the right to the protection of personal data concerning him or her.

2.Such data must be processed fairly for specified purposes and on the basis of the consent of the person concerned or some other legitimate basis laid down by law. Everyone has the right of access to data which has been collected concerning him or her, and the right to have it rectified.

3.Compliance with these rules shall be subject to control by an independent authority.

The full teaxt is available here...
http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:ZmaZicXt68YC:europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/unit/charte/pdf/texte_en.pdf+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

As I said, maybe try having a meeting with a few collaegues and discuss what might be the best way to broach. If your boss is made aware of the ill-feeling, he would prolly acomadate this rather than have a Human resources crisis on his hands

hth