The rules allowing the placement of video and audio surveillance cameras in schools are changing again: the system, the subject of which there was so much fuss a few months ago, will be installed only with the consent of the majority of parents and after consulting and informing teachers.
Bullying could be prevented by video surveillance in classrooms. Source: archive
After deciding in March, through an Emergency Ordinance, to install surveillance cameras in schools without the consent of parents or teachers, the authorities are taking a step back. Concretely, according to the new decision, the installation of audio-video cameras in schools will be done only with the majority consent of the parents and only after informing and consulting the teachers. Even in exceptional situations, when there is a high risk of violence in the school space, the installation of such a system cannot be done without informing everyone. “Basically, we're coming back from where we left”, Daniela Cireașa, president of the Association of Privacy and Data Protection Specialists, told “Adevărul”. But, the specialist explains, even in this new form, the law does not comply with GDPR rules. “I stand by the same idea: a majority agreement when discussing the processing of personal data does not comply with GDPR rules. Either we're talking about the consent of all those under surveillance, or we're not“, said the expert. Daniela Cireașa pointed out another aspect: informing does not just mean announcing that cameras will be installed. It means much more than that. “Information means telling me how long you keep that data, who has access to it, to whom you sent it, what is the purpose, what is the legal basis of the processing and what rights do I have. The information is made in writing and must be given to each parent. Not to be announced verbally only, in a meeting. Then, the information must be published on the school website, so that every parent or employee of the educational institution can consult it whenever they want“, explains the specialist. Last but not least, says Daniela Cireașa, the school representatives will be obliged to display some representative icons at the entrance to the respective unit. “So that I am warned that there is video surveillance before I enter that space”.
Another change decided by the authorities: schools will have certain obligations, including that of appointing a personal data protection officer. “Any public institution must have a data protection officer. In the present case, yes, someone within the school must be designated for this purpose. But, beware! The person in question is generally still a teacher or a person from the secretariat who has been given an extra task. However, we are talking about people who are not trained in this regard, who do not have specialized knowledge, do not know the GDPR rules, the current legislation, do not have basic notions of what data protection means”.
How should this problem be solved? At the school inspectorate level, the specialist believes, a team should be formed to deal with everything that means the protection of personal data, to coordinate all the schools in the city or county where there is a surveillance system. “All information should be centralized at the level of inspectorates, and in schools there should be only representatives to report problems, incidents, if there are requests for the installation of cameras, etc.“. There is no way to appoint a single person to handle the management of this procedure with all that it entails, is the expert's conclusion.
Other provisions
The audio-video recordings, it is also specified in the Emergency Ordinance, will not be able to be used for the evaluation of teachers or in the resolution of appeals regarding the evaluation of students during class hours. The decision to install the video system will be made for a maximum of one calendar year, and the cameras will not be installed in the changing rooms and bathrooms. Instead, they will be able to work in classrooms, dining rooms, hallways, ballrooms, gyms and outside buildings. Access to the audio-video recordings will be made based on a written, motivated request approved by the director of the educational unit, only by viewing them, by the parents of the students, the staff of the educational unit, representatives of the school inspectorates, of the Ministry of Education and representatives of the DGASPC. The images can also be viewed by the school psychologist or counselor, but only with the consent of the parent, legal representative or adult student.
We remind you that at the end of March, an announcement by the Minister of Education inflamed the entire public opinion. Ligia Deca said in a press conference that the decision was made to install surveillance cameras in schools without the need for parents' and teachers' consent.
