The Case under the GDPR for Video and Audio Recording in Commercial Spaces and Interactions: An Example of Fitting Legacy Systems and Practices into a Forward-Looking Compliance Regime

Abstract

This Paper considers how to square potentially the new General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR” or “Regulation”) requirements with the longstanding commercial practices of recording customers through video and audio means; this could include the recording of customers in shops and business locations and the recording of telephone communication for the purposes of transactions or customer service. This Paper does not consider the separate issues raised by government surveillance or separate wiretapping-style analysis that may need to accompany any privacy analysis. The GDPR analysis is not necessarily the only legal considerations to be made depending on the member state; however, this Paper considers this layer of the analysis as it may be applied as expected to be initially effective across the European Union in 2018.