The Data Protection Commissioner is investigating the controversial use of CCTV cameras in Marsaxlokk’s public toilets.
Sources within the office of the Data Protection Commissioner said the matter was being looked into after a video, recorded from surveillance cameras, was uploaded onto social media by Marsaxlokk mayor Horace Gauci.
The cameras, pointed at the urinals in a men’s public latrine, captured the moment a man smashed two toilet roll holders. When the footage was uploaded to Mr Gauci’s Facebook wall, it sparked a storm of criticism.
“There shouldn’t be cameras pointed at you when you are using the bathroom, it’s not decent,” one Marsaxlokk resident wrote.
It would appear that the commission was inclined to agree with the resident, as the sources there described the use of cameras pointed at urinals as “excessive”.
There shouldn’t be cameras pointed at you when you are using the bathroom.It’s not decent
The southern town, however, is not alone in its contentious use of surveillance equipment in public toilets.
Government figures compiled on the back of a request by this newspaper show there are actually 14 cameras currently monitoring public toilets across seven localities. The majority of these are inside the bathrooms themselves.
The commission sources said no official complaints had been received over the installation of surveillance equipment in public toilets, but the office was looking into the matter on its own steam.
The sources explained that there was no specific legislation on the use of CCTV in public toilets, but the guiding principles on the use of surveillance insisted that this should not be excessive.
The absence of local legislation in this regard does not mean rules were not introduced in other countries. The UK’s data protection guidelines state that “CCTV should only be used in exceptional circumstances in areas where you normally expect privacy – such as in changing rooms or toilets – and should only be used to deal with very serious concerns”.
Ireland’s regulations, for instance, clearly state that “CCTV cameras should never be capable of capturing images from cubicles or urinal areas.”
The commission sources said that a middle ground would likely be found whereby the cameras would be removed from the actual inside of the public restrooms and installed at the entrance instead.
The Marsaxlokk local council has clarified that signs at the latrine entrance warn of CCTV surveillance.
Reacting to some comments on his Facebook wall, Mr Gauci said he did not have any “fetish” and did not watch recordings of the toilets.
He said that access to the footage was restricted to the council and this was the first time that any recording had actually been recovered. The recordings, he added, were stored for seven days and then erased.