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LCQ20: Closed circuit television cameras
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     Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Emily Lau in the Legislative Council today (February 3):

Question:

     Closed circuit television ("CCTV") cameras have been installed by various law enforcement departments such as the Hong Kong Police Force, etc. in many public places, and such camera systems are also installed in certain private properties and public rental housing ("PRH") estates. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a) whether they know the total number of CCTV cameras installed by government departments and public organisations in various districts throughout Hong Kong, with a breakdown by the name of department and organisation, as well as the 18 District Council districts;

(b) regarding the installation of CCTV cameras in private properties and PRH estates by government departments and public organisations, whether the authorities have formulated policies to specify the criteria for installing these camera systems, time for dismantling and the government department(s) from which approval must be sought prior to installation; if they have, of the details; if not, how they ensure that the number of such cameras will not exceed the minimum number required for security purpose;

(c) whether at present, there are internal codes of practice for compliance by government departments, which stipulate that upon installation of CCTV cameras, the various responsible departments must notify the nearby residents of the locations of these camera systems, the persons authorised to view the video tapes, the conditions under which the video tapes can be passed to a third party, the storage and destruction of video tapes, and other specific arrangements; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will draw up such codes of practice expeditiously; and

(d) whether the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data will draw up guidelines on the installation of CCTV camera system commonly known as "sky eyes" and similar devices, so as to ensure that privacy of members of the public is also protected while government departments are preventing crimes?

Reply:

President,

     We do not maintain statistics on the number of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed by government departments and public organisations in various districts of Hong Kong. At present, various government departments, such as the Transport Department (TD), the Housing Department (HD) and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) have installed CCTV cameras in public places, such as strategic locations in the transport infrastructure, public housing rental (PRH) estates and entrances to public facilities and lift cabins, for traffic monitoring, facility management and other lawful purposes. The statistics provided by these three departments are as follows:

Districts   No. of CCTV cameras   No. of CCTV systems
                    TD         LCSD      HD (Note 1)
-----------------------------------------------------
Central & Western   11         434         5
Eastern             13         363         69
Southern            1          143         44
Wan Chai            16         332     Not applicable
Kowloon City        14         305         29
Yau Tsim Mong       23         892         5
Sham Shui Po        19         269         116
Wong Tai Sin        5          241         130
Kwun Tong           14         287         167
Tai Po              21         89          15
Tuen Mun            37         141         59
Yuen Long           46         216         90
North               26         135         19
Sai Kung            0          154         27
Sha Tin             69         417         77
Tsuen Wan           73         166         39
Kwai Tsing          117        269         149
Islands             13         72          60
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Total               518        4,925    About 1,100

     No CCTV system is currently installed by the Hong Kong Police Force in public places on a permanent basis for the purpose of maintaining law and order. The Police have installed around 180 CCTV cameras along the land boundary for the purposes of boundary security, anti-smuggling and anti-illegal immigration.

     To monitor crowd movement and for security purposes at the immigration control points, the Immigration Department (ImmD) and the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) have installed 812 and 286 CCTV cameras at the immigration control points respectively.

     In addition, the Yau Tsim Mong District Council has installed 8 CCTV cameras in the district to monitor the throwing of objects from height. Other individual District Councils are also contemplating the implementation of this facility to enhance building management and security measures in their respective districts.

(b) Various government departments install CCTV cameras to meet their reasonable needs and they have to observe their established arrangements. For instance, for traffic monitoring purpose, TD would normally install CCTV cameras on high masts erected at the road side of truck roads. However, in some of the sites or under certain circumstances, such as obstruction by underground utilities which renders construction of the foundation for high mast not feasible, the CCTV cameras will be installed on the roof top of housing estates or properties for traffic monitoring purpose. Installation of such CCTV systems is part of the public works programme, and the department will consult relevant District Councils and obtain approval from the Legislative Council as appropriate before commencement of the works.

     The CCTV cameras installed at the venues of LCSD are mainly for the purposes of maintaining public security, crowd control and facility management. LCSD has formulated internal guidelines for strictly monitoring the use and operation of CCTV cameras by its staff to prevent any misuse or abuse of the cameras. The number of cameras installed varies according to the security needs of each individual venue.

     HD has issued internal guidelines in accordance with the data protection principles under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance to instruct its staff on the related procedures. Regarding the installation of the CCTV monitoring systems, a definite purpose of surveillance and a distinct scope of monitoring have been specified. A stringent control on the retention and use of the video footage has also been adopted to protect the privacy of individuals. As for the CCTV monitoring system installed by HD in the buildings and shopping malls, for security reasons, CCTV cameras are installed in accordance with the guidelines at suitable positions inside buildings, such as the door-phone positions at building entrances, lift lobbies on the ground floor, lifts, dark corners of rear staircases and letterbox areas, etc. With respect to HD's Falling Object Monitoring System (FOMS), its installation is limited and confined to the PRH estates which have frequent incidents of throwing or falling objects from height, and repeated records or complaints of suspected or established cases for the purpose of enforcement and evidence collection. The positions of the cameras are adjusted carefully to avoid direct recording of the interior of the flats so as to protect the privacy of tenants.

     As explained in the first part of the reply, the Police, ImmD and C&ED decide the actual arrangement for installation of CCTV cameras as well as the number of cameras to be installed at the boundary and the immigration control points based on their boundary enforcement duties and the actual operational need of the immigration control points.

     Yau Tsim Mong District Council's "Working Group on Mong Kok Pedestrian Precinc" has promulgated the "Operational Guidelines for the CCTV System in Mong Kok Pedestrian Precinct" to specify the mode of operation and management of the system. In order to strike a balance between public safety and privacy, the Working Group took on board the advice from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data as well as the Secretary for Justice, and adopted a series of measures to respond to the privacy concerns of the general public.

(c) TD has issued internal guidelines which stipulate that CCTV systems can only be operated by authorised persons, and CCTV cameras can only be manipulated where there are needs on traffic monitoring and/or incident management. The guidelines also prohibit staff from abusing the CCTV cameras for infringing personal privacy. As the CCTV cameras are mainly for real-time traffic monitoring and incident management, TD normally will not record or store any CCTV images or footage. Nonetheless, TD's management contractors of Tsing Ma and Tsing Sha Control Areas may record and store the CCTV images where there is a genuine need. TD will ensure that relevant recording strictly complies with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.

     It is stipulated in LCSD's internal guidelines that all staff should comply with the rules on the operation of CCTV systems so as to protect the privacy of venue users. These rules include, among other things, that the recorded videotapes should be encrypted and kept under safe custody, and that only authorised staff should have access to these videotapes. In general, the recorded video images should not be kept for more than one month and should be destroyed when no longer needed. In addition, bilingual notices in both Chinese and English are displayed at conspicuous places at LCSD venues installed with CCTV systems to inform the public of the presence of CCTV systems at the venues and that only authorised staff of LCSD would have access to the video recorded materials.

     HD displays notices at the ground floor lift lobbies of PRH buildings and the shopping malls to notify tenants and other persons that the video footage is used for security and property management purposes only. The system is accessible only to authorised management personnel who are responsible for operating the system, including duplicating, erasing, processing and keeping the video footage, etc. Generally speaking, the video footage is kept for about 7 to 14 days.  If it is related to an offence or prosecution, the footage will be kept for a longer period, downloaded and passed on to the Police for follow-up action.

     The "Operational Guidelines for the CCTV System in Mong Kok Pedestrian Precinct" has specified the mode of operation and management of the system, as well as other details including procedures and formalities for the Police to retrieve the images. The guidelines and other rules have specified the following requirements:

(1) Parties authorised by the Yau Tsim Mong District Council, including relevant departments and maintenance staff, may have access to the images for system review and maintenance purpose. Unauthorised persons should not view, download, save or copy the images captured by the CCTV system.
 
(2) The recorded images can only be retrieved by the Police for investigation into cases of objects thrown from height and the Police application should observe a set of prescribed procedures.

(3) The images will be automatically erased after 14 days unless they are used for the Police's investigation into incidents of throwing objects from height. If any hard disk component containing recorded images has to be discarded due to damage, termination of the scheme or any other reason, the contractor must ensure that all information (including images) stored in the component has been completely erased with the effect that it becomes non-recoverable.

     Yau Tsim Mong District Council has put up notices in the area covered by the CCTV cameras to inform citizens that the area is under CCTV surveillance. All notices carry the objectives and functions of the system, and state that the relevant images may be used by the Police for investigation into cases of objects thrown from height as well as by the persons authorised by Yau Tsim Mong District Council for regular maintenance and system review. The notices also specify the means for enquiry. To enhance transparency of the system, the Operational Guidelines formulated by the Yau Tsim Mong District Council has also been uploaded to its website to inform members of the public of the operational details of the system, use of recorded images, image retrieval procedure as well as measures safeguarding effective functioning of the system and personal privacy.

     The relevant law enforcement agencies have formulated internal guidelines on the retention and handling of video records to ensure their safe custody, proper handling and timely destruction. It is laid down in the guidelines that video records can only be viewed by designated law enforcement officers for the purposes of law enforcement, internal review or other lawful and reasonable uses. The guidelines further provide for the proper management of the recording installations by designating officers who are allowed to enter control rooms to use them. In addition, notices are posted up at prominent locations on the premises of immigration control points by the ImmD and the C&ED to inform passengers of the presence of CCTV cameras.

(d) According to information provided by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (the Ordinance) (Cap. 486) protects the privacy of individuals in relation to personal data. Data users should comply with the provisions of the Ordinance if they collect the personal data of a person they intend to identify through devices like CCTV camera system. Data Protection Principle 1 of the Ordinance provides that in collecting personal data, the data user should ensure that only necessary and adequate data are collected in relation to his function and activity, and that the data are collected by means which are lawful and fair in the circumstances. For this reason, prominent copies of the "Personal Information Collection Statement" should be posted around the surveillance area to inform individuals that they would be entering an area under the surveillance of the CCTV system. The statement should also specify the circumstances under which personal data would be collected, the use of such data and the classes of persons to whom the data may be transferred. Data users are required to properly handle, retain and use the personal data collected.

     The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data has not formulated any guidelines on the collection, handling, retention and use of personal data by recording devices, for instance the CCTV camera system, installed in public places. Data users are required to observe the general provisions of the Ordinance.

Note 1: Each residential building of PRH estates have been installed with a CCTV monitoring system.  Depending on the security needs of individual building and shopping mall and the tenants' requests, the number of CCTV cameras installed in each building is different. It is estimated that there are about 1,100 systems with a total of about 16,200 CCTV cameras. Moreover, the HD has also installed 116 sets of "Falling Object Monitoring Systems", commonly called the "sky eyes", involving a total of about 570 cameras in various PRH estates on a need and rotation basis.

Ends/Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Issued at HKT 17:57

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