Cameras in private kindergartens and in 'sensitive areas', says Equality – What it says in a statement
The vast majority of private kindergartens have an installed monitoring system, says the Equality guild, which cites a survey it carried out through a questionnaire and addressed to the employees of private kindergartens, mentioning at the same time “extreme cases”, with the installation of cameras even in sensitive and secret areas, such as teachers' toilets and break areas or kitchens.
< p>According to an announcement by the branch council of Private Sector Kindergarten Teachers of the Syntechnia, the investigation was carried out on the occasion of the recent announcement by the Commissioner for the Protection of Personal Data (EPDPH) regarding the legality of the installation and operation of closed circuit video surveillance in private kindergartens.
As reported, it was found that in the vast majority (88.9%) of private kindergartens there is an installed monitoring system, while only 5.6% of employees have given their explicit written consent “to be monitored” in the workplace.
In addition, 44.4% of the respondents were informed about the existence of cameras by their colleagues and only 27.8% by the owner, while “remarkable and at the same time worrying”, as stated, is the fact that 5.6% he had received absolutely no information and detected the presence of cameras on his own.
“Despite the fact that the vast majority of parents know about the existence of cameras in schools, with the argument of enhancing the safety of children,” the guild states, “there are extreme cases where the cameras have been installed even in sensitive and private areas, such as teachers' toilets and break areas/kitchen, blatantly and brutally violating the privacy and dignity of employees”.
It is also noted that while the majority (61.1%) consider the security of the space as the main reason and children, a not inconsiderable percentage (11.1%) believes that the personal behavior and attitude of teachers at work is monitored.
According to the union, “even more disturbing and infuriating is the fact that cases have been recorded where the cameras are monitored by unauthorized third parties, such as husbands of female owners, which leads to gross abuse and creates intense discomfort and indignation among employees”.
The Syntechnia adds that in its announcement, the Commissioner emphasized clearly and without any room for misinterpretation that surveillance by means of cameras is permitted exclusively and only at the entrance/exit and in the parking areas of kindergartens and that their use is expressly and unequivocally prohibited indoors, classrooms, common areas, restrooms/locker rooms, and yard/playground.
“However, our findings show that in many, unacceptable cases, cameras are equipped with sound and a microphone, allowing immediate and arbitrary intervention of the management at any time”, it states.
Finally, Equality states that it contacted the Office of the Commissioner, which “responded immediately and decisively, committing to inform and mobilize all relevant bodies in order to immediate compliance and strict observance of the law”.
