Complaints about illegal camera surveillance are increasing

There is no need for permission for private individuals to camera-monitor their home. This applies to both self-installed surveillance systems and cameras connected to an alarm center.

As cameras have become a standard choice for home alarm operators and camera software becoming cheaper and more accessible, home camera surveillance has become increasingly common.

- Judging by the telephone calls we receive from the public, it is our opinion that the surveillance in the home environment is increasing, says Nils Henckel.

On May 25, 2018, Sweden received a completely new data protection legislation, GDPR. For individuals, this means complying with the Data Protection Regulation and obtaining permission if you are filming videos outside their private sphere.

The Data Inspectorate, which is responsible for the supervision of all camera surveillance, believes that complaints about illegal surveillance have since increased.

From the GDPR's introduction in the remaining 2018, the authority received 81 complaints - in 2019 they received 274 complaints. A large part of them are from people who feel that they are being monitored by their neighbors.

- It is regrettable that such illegal surveillance is increasing, where you film the neighbor's plot. This is a worrying development. It is illegal to film their neighbors and can result in penalties on relatively high amounts, says Nils Henckel.