CCTV in city centre would breach data laws

Tórshavn City Council wants to set up closed-circuit TV cameras in the city centre in the wake of a late-night assault in February.

Police were struggling to find clues and it was suggested that CCTV would aid future investigations.

But now the Data Protection Agency says that the city council is not authorised to set up the system.

Privacy issues

“Surveillance of large crowds such as we see in the city centre at the weekends is in breach of data protection laws," says Tóri Højgaard, the head of the Data Protection Agency.

“Specifically, it would breach the principle of proportionality, i.e. there would be a significant imbalance between the means used and the intended objective.”

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

Translated by prosa.fo.

More Faroese News in English.