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| Data privacy in video surveillance by artec technologies AG |
More and more frequently, unlawful video surveillance keeps making headlines – in recent months as well. Just last week, the Administrative Court in Hannover, Germany, denounced police video surveillance as unlawful. And in February of this year, the chief data privacy ombudsman of the State of Hamburg criticized the wide-spread video surveillance in the shopping centers of a well-known concern as illegal. The company immediately drew the consequences and had the objectionable cameras removed. This not only incurred costs for the company, but will also possibly lead to restrictions on video surveillance in sensitive areas as well.
Video surveillance is not, however, unlawful in every case. That is especially true when the regulations contained in Germany’s Federal Data Protection Act are properly observed. This was pointed out by artec technologies AG of Diepholz, Germany, which specialises in the development of video surveillance solutions which conform to the demands of data privacy protection laws. artec’s experts believe that this recent decision by the State of Hamburg’s data privacy protection ombudsman will have significant impact nationwide. artec has already received a number of inquiries from companies interested in solutions which fulfill the various data privacy protection requirements. .
“With our new product ‘MULTIEYE PrivacyShield’ which makes moving objects – such as persons – unrecognizable in live displays, we are supporting companies in their efforts to fulfill the demands placed on video surveillance to assure conformity with data privacy protection regulations,” Thomas Hoffman, CEO of artec technologies AG stated. In his eyes, this entire area promises enormous Europe-wide market potential for video surveillance solutions such as artec’s which provide the necessary protection for data privacy.
