Third of doorbell camera owners retaining footage of public space longer than allowed

One in three doorbell and security cameras registered with the police’s Camera in Beeld register retains recorded footage for longer than legally permitted, Omroep Gelderland reported based on its own research. That’s tens of thousands of cameras nationwide. According to the broadcaster, the relevant authorities are aware of this, but haven’t acted.

The Camera in Beeld register is a police register where citizens can voluntarily register their cameras for potential use in investigations. There are currently 350,000 cameras registered, many of which film not only private property, but also public roads.

According to privacy law, footage of public roads may not be retained longer than strictly necessary. 28 days is usually the maximum, after which you must demonstrate why you need to keep it longer, Gerrit-Jan Zwenne, a professor of law and the information society at Leiden University, told Omroep Gelderland. 28 days is also what the police communicate when registering a camera.

Omroep Gelderland requested anonymized data from the register and found that one in three cameras that film public roads retain the footage for longer than 28 days. That is tens of thousands of camera owners not complying with the law.

The police are aware of this, but are not taking action. According to the police, camera footage from citizens is becoming increasingly important. And even if footage is not obtained in accordance with privacy regulations, it can still be used in criminal cases, police spokesperson Jet Holtus told the broadcaster. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) confirmed that this is permitted, as long as the police and judiciary were not involved in the unlawful acquisition of the footage.

The police also said that enforcement of the 28-day limit is not their responsibility. "It is not up to the police to monitor how long footage is retained. That is the responsibility of the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP),” the spokesperson said.

The AP told Omroep Gelderland that citizens are only allowed to film their own property and not public spaces, and footage may not be retained longer than necessary. This authority is also not taking action. Last year, the AP received 550 complaints about doorbell cameras, a 30 percent increase from the year before. It has never imposed a fine for violating privacy rules with a doorbell camera.

Lotte Houwing of the privacy organization Bits of Freedom is not surprised that so many cameras exceed the retention period and that the authorities are failing to act. According to her, the police are exploiting the lack of clarity. “This way, legal safeguards are circumvented, allowing mass filming of public spaces. We therefore believe the police should discontinue the registry.”