How can cameras in business premises be installed at will?


  Reporters investigate the problem of irregular installation of cameras

  Motivation for investigation

  In recent years, more and more businesses have installed cameras in their business premises, which has played a positive role in maintaining social order and preventing and resolving disputes.

But at the same time, the issue of privacy violations and the risk of information leakage caused by the improper installation of cameras has also caused a lot of controversy.

  Does the business have the right to install cameras in the business premises, and how should they be installed correctly?

Where are the borders for these cameras to access citizen information?

How to ensure information security?

With these questions in mind, a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily conducted an in-depth investigation and interview.

  ● Shopping malls, restaurants, playgrounds, hotels, small supermarkets... For reasons such as "safety considerations" and "fear of something going wrong", more and more businesses are installing cameras in their business premises.

Some of these cameras are installed by merchants after purchasing from online or digital city, and some are carried by the cashier system itself

  ● Some cameras are installed in private rooms by merchants, and some automatically identify personal information, while others are cracked, resulting in video data being circulated and sold on the Internet, causing people's concerns.

It is illegal for businesses to obtain other people's biometric information through cameras, which is a serious violation of the Personal Information Protection Law

  ● At present, there is a lack of uniform regulations on the installation of cameras in public places, and some industry-specific regulations also fail to cover various situations.

The legislature should make uniform and clear regulations on the installation of cameras in accordance with the Civil Code, the Personal Information Protection Law, etc., and at the same time conduct full-chain supervision from the front end of camera production to the end of video content release.

  □ Zhang Shoukun, a trainee reporter of this newspaper

  □ Our reporter Chen Lei

  Recently, two women in Zhejiang found that behind the opening of essential oils in a foot bath shop, there was a camera in the room facing their SPA bed.

The two women immediately approached the store manager for a theory, and the store manager argued that the installation was required by the police station.

The local police station responded that installing surveillance in public places is a public security precaution, but it has never forced businesses to install surveillance in privacy areas, and they need to fulfill their duty of reminder after installing surveillance.

  Not only foot bath shops, but a reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" recently visited and found that cameras can be seen in shopping malls, restaurants, playgrounds, hotels, small supermarkets and other places.

Some cameras are installed in private rooms by merchants, and some automatically identify personal information.

  Several experts pointed out in interviews with reporters that although relevant laws and regulations do not clearly stipulate that businesses cannot install cameras in public places, it does not mean that cameras can be installed at will.

When installing the camera, be sure to abide by the relevant laws and regulations of the state, follow the principle of maintaining public safety, and set up prominent prompt signs to ensure information security, and not to infringe or reveal the privacy of others.

  The camera cannot be installed arbitrarily

  Be sure to set up prominent reminder signs

  Why should merchants install cameras in their stores?

The reporter visited a number of businesses in Beijing and Tianjin and learned that they were all out of "safety considerations" and "fear of something going wrong".

  A hot pot restaurant in Beijing's Chaoyang District not only installed cameras in the front desk, lobby, corridors and other areas, but also installed cameras in the private rooms.

The person in charge of the store told reporters that the cameras were installed on their own initiative, mainly for the safety of the store. In addition, in the event of similar food and hygiene disputes, surveillance video would be easier to deal with.

  The reporter noticed that some stores have warning signs: You have entered the monitoring area.

However, most stores do not post relevant signs, and the store or waiter will not take the initiative to prompt.

  The owner of a small supermarket in Hedong District, Tianjin has also installed multiple cameras in the supermarket, and surveillance video images are constantly displayed on the computer screen at the checkout counter.

The boss told reporters that after there are cameras, if something is lost in the store, the police can show it to them and help solve the case.

  As for the source of the camera, according to the introduction of many merchants, there are mainly two channels: one is to install it after purchasing it from the Internet or a digital city, and the other is to carry it with the cashier system itself.

Most of the surveillance video is stored in the network space, which can be saved for half a month to a month.

  The reporter interviewed a number of citizens in Beijing and Tianjin at random. Most people believe that as long as the business can avoid installing cameras in private spaces and at the same time ensure information security, it is up to the business whether to install cameras or not, and it has nothing to do with their own shopping and consumption. Too much influence is actually good for maintaining public safety.

  "The cameras installed by merchants in public places are more like an invisible guard." Li Jie, a Beijing citizen, said with emotion. He once lost his wallet in the shopping mall and searched everywhere to no avail. Finally, he found it by checking the surveillance video of the shopping mall.

  At the same time, some respondents suggested that in recent years, some businesses have installed cameras in relatively private places such as private rooms of restaurants, KTV rooms, and even private rooms of foot bath shops.

  So, does the business have the right to install cameras in the business premises?

What to do with the information recorded by the camera?

  According to Yue Tao, a lawyer from Beijing Yinghe Law Firm, at this stage, there are no specific legal regulations on the installation of cameras (CCTV) in my country, which mostly exist in departmental regulations and local regulatory documents, such as the "Beijing Public Security Image Information System". Management Measures, etc., but it does not stipulate that businesses and private individuals cannot install cameras in public places.

  "Most cameras in individual supermarkets and hotels are installed privately, but this does not mean that cameras can be installed at will." Yue Tao said.

  He further explained that according to the personal information protection law and other legal requirements, the installation of image capture and personal identification equipment in public places should be necessary to maintain public safety, abide by relevant state regulations, and set up prominent warning signs. Violate and reveal the privacy of others.

If a camera is installed in a place involving personal privacy, it will cause infringement, which does not comply with the relevant provisions of the Civil Code on the protection of personality rights.

  "Relevant laws, regulations and departmental regulations for the installation of cameras almost only require the installation of CCTV monitoring equipment in public areas such as the entrances and exits of business premises, main passages, cash registers, parking lots, and fire safety evacuation entrances and exits. And cameras can be installed in private rooms, rooms and other non-public areas with a certain privacy." Meng Qiang, a professor at Beijing Institute of Technology Law School, said that as to who will install, how to keep the information after installation, and who will supervise and other issues, currently There are no specific regulations.

For example, the "Administrative Measures for Hotel Industry Public Security" formulated by the Ministry of Public Security only emphasizes that hotels should establish various safety management systems and implement safety precautions, but does not specifically address the installation of camera monitoring facilities.

  Business cameras are easy to crack

  It is illegal to obtain information by face recognition

  The fitting room of a shopping mall has no obstructions, and a camera is installed on the ceiling above the side; a camera was found in the dressing room of a men's bathroom... The privacy violation and the risk of information leakage caused by the installation of cameras cannot be ignored.

  Recently, some users posted surveillance videos on social platforms that were suspected of cracking cameras in public places such as schools and hospitals, which aroused public attention and heated discussions.

For a time, various ways and methods to crack the camera appeared on the Internet.

  The reporter's investigation found that on some overseas social software, someone specially taught how to obtain the pictures taken by cameras in public places at home and abroad.

In some teaching videos, the reporter saw that after a simple operation, the surveillance pictures of several shopping malls and snack bars were displayed in the computer window of the other party.

These cracked videos may be uploaded to the Internet as a drainage tool.

  According to Yue Tao, at present, the cameras in public places are basically divided into two types: one is the cameras installed by the public security organs to maintain public order. The possibility of being cracked is very small; the other is a camera installed by individuals or businesses. This camera is generally connected to the Internet, and its maintenance encryption and key update are generally slow, and the possibility of being cracked is very high.

  "After businesses install cameras, they generally save the storage content by themselves, and there is no so-called desensitization. Some businesses even use cameras to collect personal information, which is illegal," said Yue Tao.

  In addition, the reporter also noticed that some businesses install cameras in their business premises not only for safety reasons, but some shopping malls install cameras with face recognition functions for passenger flow statistics.

  An online store that sells a "smart store passenger flow management system" introduced on its homepage that the online store provides passenger flow statistics software, which can accurately identify faces, analyze customer groups, and can push real-time, remote store visits, and can customize other functions.

  In the case shown in this online store, when a customer comes to a certain store, the display screen connected to the camera will quickly identify the customer entering the store, link the customer's purchase records, consumption frequency, purchase preferences and other records, and also analyze the people who enter the store. Face features, blacklist labels for habitual thieves, competitors, etc., and automatically make early warning reports in the background.

  "Provide the store name and mobile phone number, and a technician will reply, provide the system according to your specific requirements, and then quote. Generally speaking, the system can be built for a few thousand yuan with a camera." The above-mentioned online store customer service staff said.

  The reporter entered keywords such as "face recognition camera" and "store face system" in search engines and e-commerce platforms, and found that it was easy to find companies that provided similar services, and their sales were not low.

  Is it illegal for businesses to install such traffic counting cameras in public places?

  "It is illegal for businesses to use face recognition cameras to obtain other people's biological information, which is a serious violation of the Personal Information Protection Law." Yue Tao said that the photographed faces are sensitive information that can identify personally identifiable information, according to the provisions of the Personal Information Protection Law , the processing of sensitive personal information should obtain personal consent or even written consent. Obviously, many subjects who collect faces have not obtained the consent of the person being photographed.

  Yue Tao said: "According to the provisions of the Personal Information Protection Law, even after obtaining consent, these personal information must be processed and stored through legal means based on legitimate, legitimate and necessary purposes, otherwise it constitutes a violation of the law."

  Improve legislation and clarify installation requirements

  Strengthen the supervision of the whole chain of cameras

  "The installation of cameras can realize real-time monitoring, and has the function of data storage and playback, which can effectively prevent and stop illegal and criminal acts, and provide investigative clues. During the epidemic prevention and control period, it also has functions such as epidemic prevention and control, and temperature detection. It can be said that, Installing cameras is an important means of safeguarding public interests." Meng Qiang said, but the harm caused by some businesses' non-standard installation of cameras is also obvious.

  The App Special Governance Working Group established by the National Information Security Standardization Technical Committee and other institutions released the "Face Recognition Application Public Research Report (2020)", showing that 30% of the respondents suffered privacy or property losses due to the leakage and abuse of face information.

  In response to this problem, some places have begun to take action.

In March 2021, the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress of Guangdong Province publicly solicited opinions on the "Regulations on the Administration of Video and Image Information Systems for Public Safety in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (Draft)", taking the lead in exploring legislation.

  The draft proposes that the video image information system involving the collection of sensitive information such as public safety portraits, human bodies and license plates should be planned by the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau.

When sensitive video image information such as portraits, human bodies and license plates is used for public communication, unless otherwise stipulated by laws and regulations, the private information involving the personal characteristics of the parties, motor vehicle license plates and other private information shall be taken so that specific individuals cannot be identified and cannot be recovered. protective measures.

  Meng Qiang believes that there is currently a lack of uniform regulations for the installation of cameras in public places, and some industry-specific regulations also fail to cover various situations.

However, the current camera installation is more popular, data collection and personal identification are more convenient and intelligent, and it is easy to cause various risks.

In such an environment, the legislature should make uniform and clear regulations on the installation of cameras in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code and the Personal Information Protection Law, and improve relevant legislation.

  He also suggested strengthening supervision from the front end and the end of the whole chain.

For camera manufacturers, it is necessary to improve product security capabilities in accordance with relevant regulations and standards on data security and information security, strictly perform the main responsibility of network security, strengthen cloud platform network security protection, and implement data security protection responsibilities for remote video surveillance apps; For e-commerce platforms, it is necessary to strictly perform their main responsibilities, carry out comprehensive investigations, and clean up and remove fake and inferior cameras on the platform; for social software, websites, forums and other Internet platforms that are obliged to release and review information , It is necessary to timely and comprehensively clean up the illegal and harmful information related to camera peeping, such as camera cracking teaching, vulnerability risk utilization, cracking tool sales, candid equipment modification, peeping video trading, etc. released on the platform.

  "Public security organs must crack down on illegal and criminal activities such as providing software tools for camera cracking, implementing attack control on camera equipment, obtaining and buying and selling citizens' private videos, and severely punish criminals. Departments such as Internet information, industry and information technology, and market supervision must strengthen supervision and law enforcement, Social software, websites, forums, video surveillance cloud platforms, e-commerce platforms, etc. that do not implement the main responsibility shall be severely punished in accordance with laws and regulations." Meng Qiang said.