COMMISSIONER'S DIRECTIVE

AUTHORITY FOR AND USE OF VIDEO SURVEILLANCE IN SUPPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS

Policy Bulletin 193

1. To establish and define the requirements and procedures for the installation and use of video surveillance in support of investigations to safeguard employees and government assets.

2. Government Security Policy;
Treasury Board Secretariat's Security Policy Implementation Notice no. 1999-01 on Video Surveillance.

3. Commissioner's Directive 575 - Interception of Communications Related to the Maintenance of Institutional Security.

4. Covert video surveillance refers to the surreptitious use of video only (with no audio track) for non-routine investigative purposes.

5. Overt video surveillance refers to systems such as the Perimeter Intrusion Detection System and the Supplementary Intrusion Detection System which are routinely used and are in full view of persons accessing the areas. (Refer to CD 575 for overt use of video with audio recording, and to CD 567-1 for a planned use of force.)

6. Facility is a physical setting used to serve a specific purpose. A facility may be part of a building, a whole building, or a building and its site (e.g. an institution); or it may be a construction that is not a building (e.g. an office). The term encompasses both the physical object and its use.

7. The Departmental Security Officer is the senior manager at National Headquarters responsible for establishing and directing Departmental Security, the program that ensures coordination of all policy functions and implementation of policy requirements, as per section 10.1 - Security Program of the Government Security Policy.

8. Covert video surveillance raises substantially more privacy concerns than overt video surveillance and should only be considered when all other reasonable measures, including non-investigative measures such as counselling, workplace notices, education programs, and overt surveillance, have proven ineffective or are likely to prove ineffective.

9. Video surveillance must respect the right of an individual to a reasonable expectation of privacy as guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Individuals also have specific rights under the Privacy Act.

10. The use of video surveillance must not only respect these rights, but CSC's management (i.e. the Institutional Head, the District Director or the person in charge of any facility other than an institution) must have reasonable cause to suspect a serious misconduct, which may include a criminal act. Furthermore, covert surveillance must only be carried out after all other investigative techniques have been exhausted or considered to be ineffective.

11. Installation and use of covert video surveillance in CSC facilities can only be authorized by the Commissioner who will be supported by:

1. the Departmental Security Officer who will also provide assurance of the integrity of CSC actions in this domain;
2. the Director and General Counsel at National Headquarters; and
3. the Regional Deputy Commissioner and/or Sector Head.

12. For overt video surveillance activities, the Institutional Head or person in charge of any facility other than an institution shall ensure that signs are posted stating that the area may be subject to video surveillance.

13. The individual(s) placed under covert video surveillance shall be notified afterwards about the surveillance, including where and when it occurred, and the justification for the surveillance, unless there are compelling reasons not to do so.

14. Video surveillance shall not be used where individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy (e.g. a private office, a change room or a single office in an open office environment).

15. If the alleged conduct under investigation is believed to be criminal, the police must be asked to investigate.

16. To the extent possible, covert video surveillance should not intrude on the privacy of persons other than the individual(s) under investigation.

17. The surveillance must not continue longer than is reasonably necessary to conduct the investigation.

18. Access to the video recording and any information generated by the recording is to be strictly limited to those with a need to know. The list of persons will be defined in each situation.

19. The video recording is not to be used as a means for monitoring employee performance.

20. The video recording and all information gathered in the course of the investigation are subject to the Privacy Act, Access to Information Act, Canada Evidence Act and the Library and Archives Canada Act.

21. A video recording can only be viewed on suspicion that it may contain evidence of a serious misconduct, which may include a criminal act.

22. When a video recording is to be disclosed to a law enforcement agency, only that portion relating to the incident(s) shall be provided.

23. The authenticity and integrity of the copy of the recording must be protected in order for the electronic document to be used as evidence.

24. It is necessary to establish the integrity of the recording system by which, or in which, the electronic document was recorded or stored.

25. Video recordings are to be retained for a minimum of 30 days. If no incident is recorded, they must be overwritten or destroyed after that time.

26. When evidence in a recording is used for an investigation, or an administrative action and decision, the information must be retained by the Departmental Security Officer for two years from the date the last action was taken.

Commissioner,

Original signed by
Lucie McClung

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