I see, I see what you don't see

 

Image from Pixabay

It was a warm Tuesday afternoon in one of those summers that just won't break loose. Then you take what you can get, and so they sat in their Utrecht backyard enjoying that one beautiful day. Suddenly the peace was cruelly disturbed by shouting and banging on the garden gate. They jumped up in alarm.

Through the cracks in the gate they saw bits of a woman with a wild-eyed look. “Let me in, this is my house!” she screamed. Well, they weren't going to do that. Explaining that the woman was really at the wrong house, even in the wrong street, had no effect on this lady, who was clearly under the influence of something. She kept banging on the gate. Well, 'gate' sounds very solid, but in fact it was a construction of windmill wood that hung on inferior hinges, and the rightful owners feared that it would not last very long.

Time to call the police. They arrived quickly, and they soon realized that it was best to take the person with them, because in her current state reasoning with her was impossible. They stuffed her into the back of the car and drove away. The street regained its calm.

The local residents were of course both shocked and curious. Most were not at home at the time, or they were vacuuming, so they didn't hear anything. The neighbors across the street had a security camera. Maybe it recorded something? Bingo! It was all there. When the woman walked up, she even looked straight into the camera. The police action was also beautifully depicted. The video was shared in the neighborhood app group - not for sensation, but because everybody knew that that lady would be walking around freely again in no time, and because the neighborhood would like to be prepared.

If I lived on that street, I would want that information too. You want to protect your family and your property, don't you? As an ordinary citizen, I would not hesitate to share the images with neighbors. But at the same time, from my profession, I wonder: is that actually allowed? What about privacy? People who do something wrong are also entitled to their privacy. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is European legislation that regulates our privacy. Every country has a GDPR supervisor; in the Netherlands this is the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP). The AP is the perfect source to look for the answer to my question.

I read there that you may not share images in which people are recognizable without their permission. So do not put it on the internet and do not share it via social media. But there is an exception for personal or household use: “The condition here is that this person keeps the photos and videos private or at most shares them in a very limited circle. For example in a small app group.” That 'small app group' is a bit strange, because any member of that group could further distribute the images.

There's more going on. The GDPR states that you are not allowed to film public roads. Because that would constitute an infringement of the privacy of every passer-by. They understand that sometimes there is no other option than for your camera to film a part of the street. But even then there are rules. The most obvious: zoom in on your property as much as possible, in other words: make the violation of the rules as small as possible. There is actually no need to keep images, but there appear to be no concrete rules for this, because the AP says: “Delete the images as soon as you no longer need them. For example, after 24 hours.” You also have to inform people about your camera and secure the images properly - because if you are hacked, it means a data breach.

There is a double standard in the rule that you are not allowed to film public spaces. Because if something happens on your street, the police would love to have the images from your 'illegal' camera - they can even demand those images, in other words: you are obliged to hand them over. So it's not allowed, but if you do it anyway, it might help in fighting crime.

 

And in the big bad world...

• it is not helpful to make a warning of a hack look like phishing.
• AI companies are a gold mine for hackers.
• MFA should not be an option.
• International police cooperation has led to the takedown of a bot farm spreading Russian propaganda.
• Europol has collaborated with private parties to tackle the criminal use of a pentesting tool.
• Google will now pay out much higher bug bounties.
• test accounts should also have strong passwords [article contains advertising, but it's still interesting].
• the AI Act has come into effect. [DUTCH]
• Three-quarters of all trading sites and apps worldwide use dark patterns.
• you will not always be reimbursed for the damage caused by bank help desk fraud. [DUTCH]