BS 7958:2015 standard undergoes revision

BSI, the business standards company, has recently carried out an important revision of BS 7958:2015 Closed circuit television (CCTV) – Management and operation – Code of practice in order to incorporate the changes required following the introduction of the CCTV Code of Practice issued by the Surveillance Camera Commissioner (SCC) as required by the Freedoms of Information Act 2012.

Closed circuit television (CCTV) schemes provide the public with added reassurance that the environment in which they have the ‘right to visit’ is safe and protected. However it is crucial for them to have confidence that surveillance cameras are being used to protect and support them, rather than spy on them. The government considers that wherever overt surveillance in public places is used it shall be in pursuit of a legitimate aim and meets a pressing need.

CCTV schemes that process personal data are obliged to conform to certain legislation such as the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. BS 7958 is designed to supplement this legislation and aims to ensure fairness, purpose and responsibility.

The BS 7958 provides a set of a code of practice for public space CCTV systems, taking due regard of the 12 principles of the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice and gives recommendations for the management and operation of CCTV within a controlled environment, where data that might be offered as evidence is received, stored, reviewed or analysed.

The standard also offers advice on best practice to assist owners in obtaining reliable information that can be used as evidence. It applies to the monitoring and management of public spaces, including automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and traffic enforcement cameras and also includes the operation and management of body worn cameras.

Some of the organisations that have been involved in the collaborative consensus-based development process include: British Security Industry Association, Home Office Science, IQ Verify, ITS UK Security and Resilience Interest Group, National Security Inspectorate, SSAIB, Security Industry Authority, Security Monitoring Centres Ltd and Scottish CCTV & Executive.