No More Security Camera Photos In The News

The Data Protection Authority (Persónuvernd) has announced that it is illegal for news outlets to run photos taken from security camera footage.

In the announcement, Persónuvernd points out that still frames and photos taken by security cameras, usually of someone who is suspected of committing a crime, have been distributed through numerous media outlets. This, they contend, is illegal.

By law, security camera footage may only be given to the police. It is then the police who determine whether or not they need to make the footage public to help in their investigations.

Former Commissioner of the Capital Area Police Stefán Eiríksson told Persónuvernd that in the vast majority of cases, police are able to identify the suspect in the footage without making it public. In the event that police cannot identify the suspect, and there is great risk to general public safety, the police can then grant the media the authority to publish the footage.