On October 28, 2024, the Data State Inspectorate (DVI) released guidelines on video surveillance to help legal entities and public authorities ensure compliance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The DVI explained that the main purpose of the guidelines is to ensure that video surveillance is carried out lawfully, safely, and proportionately, taking into account the interests of both organizations and the public.

What is discussed in the guidelines?

The guidelines include an explanation, along with examples, of the various legal bases for video surveillance, such as legal obligations, public interest, and legitimate interests, including:

• for the purpose of service quality control/improvement;
• for the purpose of preventing criminal offenses; and
• for video surveillance by co-owners/associations/communities of apartment owners.

The guidelines also discuss complex issues such as the processing of biometric data and video surveillance with audio functionality.

In addition, the guidelines include sample documents that will help ensure that video surveillance is conducted legally and in accordance with best practices while respecting the principles of personal data protection and protecting people's rights. Some of the documents provided include:

• internal regulations developed by the manager in order to fulfill technical and organizational requirements;
• the registration form for the transfer, copying, and manual deletion of video recordings (personal data) made by the video surveillance system to third parties;
• the test for evaluating the necessity and proportionality of personal data processing;
• balancing test questions to determine the controller's legitimate interests; and
• the video surveillance plan.

However, the DVI emphasized that the attached sample documents are just recommendations and may be changed in accordance with regulatory enactments.

Moreover, the DVI announced that it will be hosting an online seminar on November 7, 2024, to provide insight into the content of the guidelines and answer questions.

You can read the press release here and the guidelines here, both only available in Latvian.