300 euros. This is the penalty that the man who opted for install a digital peephole at the door of your home in order to avoid the situation previously described. These types of devices allow us to know who is ringing the doorbell of our home without having to interrupt what we are doing, as if it were a conventional camera. However, the Spanish Data Protection Agency He has understood that in this case the privacy of the neighbor with whom he shared a landing and whose door was framed in the image of the camera was being violated.
It was precisely this neighbor who claimed that the placement of this device had been carried out without the consent of the community. And, therefore, he had not complied with the current legal framework. The claimant himself had also sent, according to his statement, a burofax requesting the withdrawal. However, he had returned because he was absent at his home.
The data processing problem
The Organic Law on Data Protection Article 22 cites that “in no case will the use of surveillance practices be accepted beyond the environment that is the object of the installation. The installed cameras cannot obtain images of a third-party private space and/or public space without duly accredited justified cause, nor can they affect the privacy of passers-by who move freely through the area”.
Therefore, it is allowed for an individual to carry out the installation of any surveillance device with recording system in order to preserve your safety. However, without duly accredited justification, it is not possible to carry out the recording of any common space if this implies depriving the privacy of any individual, as occurs in the landing of a building in the event that the angle is wide enough How to attract more people.
In the case of neighboring communities, the treatment of the images of the neighbors is not lawful. If we go to article 6.1 of the previously mentioned regulations, we verify how the neighbor has not given his consent, the protection of the data of the affected persons are those that prevail over any other element.
Can I install a digital peephole?
Installing a digital peephole in our home is, indeed, allowed. But to do so it is necessary to have the express authorization of the group of owners. We went to Article 17 of the Horizontal Property Law to verify that for such an action to be legal it must have the support of ⅗ parts of the participation. However, this only affects peepholes that have the ability to record.
The peepholes without recordings do not require taking into account the data protection regulations. Since it is understood that only images in front of the door are captured in real time, replicating the same use as a traditional peephole.
For the case we are dealing with, the very Spanish Data Protection Agency has classified this action as very serious, being susceptible to having received a sanction of up to 20,000,000 euros, as stated in the sanctioning framework itself. However, the total amount has fallen to 300 euros after having met proportionality criteria. However, the seriousness in the limitation period is maintained, having to wait three years for it.
From the moment the sentence is final, the owner of the peephole must remove the peephole within a period of less than 30 days. Or, if you want to keep it, orient it towards another angle in which common areas are not perceived.