Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 632: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the legal prohibitions on the unwanted filming of private property and individuals; the legal recourse there is for citizens who are the subject of persistent and unwanted recording or filming of their person or property; the rights of citizens [i]vis-À-vis[/i] private closed circuit television systems; his views on changing the law or introducing new legislation in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1310/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Section 10 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 creates an offence of harassment. Such an offence may occur where a person "who by any means" harasses another by persistently following, watching, pestering, besetting or communicating with him or her. For the purposes of this section of the Act, harassment is defined as occurring where a person intentionally or recklessly seriously interferes with the others peace or privacy. For example, an individual received a custodial sentence in the District Court in 2003 arising from criminal charges relating to the placing of cameras in areas of a dwelling where the tenants residing there could expect and assume to be private.

The Privacy Bill 2006, which is currently before the Seanad, provides for a new tort of violation of privacy. Among other matters, this Bill provides that it shall be a violation of the privacy of an individual for a person to subject an individual to surveillance, which specifically includes both aural and visual surveillance. There are also provisions contained in the Data Protection Acts 1998 and 2003 which are designed to apply to personal data which is recorded through the operation of CCTV systems or other monitoring equipment.