[reposted from LinkedIn]
There is a minor, but interesting, data protection point in this judgment on a dispute between a landlord and commercial tenant about a lease.
The claimant was a dentist who had become suspended and therefore could not practise as a fully registered dentist in accordance with the terms of the lease. The dispute was about whether she had done so, and, if so, whether the court should grant relief from forfeiture (it did, on the facts).
The claimant also sought and was granted a declaration, in relation to the landlord’s siting of internal CCTV cameras, “that the processing of the claimant’s data by the defendant is unlawful and breached the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the regulations [sic] relating thereto”.
The evidence was that “a CCTV camera was installed by the defendant by being affixed to the door frame above the entrance to the toilets in the building, on the same floor as the room let to the claimant, pointing at the stairs and the door to the claimant’s…premises”. Although the defendant landlord claimed that “the CCTV was placed there for the legitimate purpose of monitoring those going to the building’s toilets”(!), the judge did not accept that: “as it was placed, [it] had a distinct view of the entrance to the claimant’s room, and, when it was opened, into the room itself. There is no real reason why it could not have been so positioned to exclude that, or why indeed it could not have been located to point in the opposite direction to monitor those coming out of the toilet area door[!]… it was an attempt to monitor who was attending the claimant’s room and its use.”
Unfortunately, the judge does not appear to have made findings as to what precisely were the infringements of the data protection law (one notes that the declaration was sought only in respect of the claimant’s own data, and not of those attending her premises, but the finding appears to be in respect of both).
So, as I say, a minor point, but interesting. Landlords, even in commercial property agreements (and disputes arising), should not simply assume they have the right to place CCTV on their property in such a way as it infringes the data protection rights of individuals using the property (whether they be tenants, employees of tenants, or the tenant’s visitors).
The views in this post (and indeed most posts on this blog) are my personal ones, and do not represent the views of any organisation I am involved with.
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