Abusing images from public cameras: Who protects citizens' privacy?

A couple who were overly intimate in a CGV cinema were caught by the cinema's surveillance camera system. After that, this image appeared on Facebook and some forums... The same thing can happen when someone goes to the supermarket or at a public swimming pool. Who protects citizens' privacy, because they can't know when they accidentally go into surveillance cameras...

Right to privacy

Let's discuss whether the behavior of the couple at the cinema violates traditional customs or not? because it is another problem. The story here is how who is allowed to use surveillance cameras and use other people's images? How should each person's privacy be protected?

A few years ago, a newspaper quoted an interesting story: If you bring a surveillance camera to a neighbor's house, will you be fined? The controversial situation was that at that time, the law still did not have clear regulations on what "private secrecy" was? What is the scope of "private secrecy"?

According to lawyers, Article 38 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulates that private life, personal secrets, and family secrets are intangible and protected by law. Thus, attaching a camera to another house if it is for the purpose of monitoring, violating private life, personal secrets, and family secrets is an illegal act. However, the provisions of administrative and criminal law have not adjusted this behavior. Therefore, it is very difficult for agencies to handle and there is no basis for sanctioning.

The 2015 Civil Law, effective from January 1, 2017, has had adjustments, dedicating a section with 15 detailed regulations on personal rights. In which, Article 32 affirms that The use of an individuals image must be agreed upon by that persons consent except in some cases where the image is used for national, ethnic, or public interests; the image is used from public activities... without harming the honor, dignity, and reputation of the person with the image.

Is there a need for a law on camera surveillance?

Back to the story of the two people being recorded by the cinema camera and the image was distributed. The installation of this hidden camera system comes from protecting the copyright of the film, avoiding the audience filming in the theater and spreading. But according to the lawyers, the theater should be notified to the audience (by the notification line running on the screen, by symbol or by a sheet of paper indicating the camera) to remind.

In particular, even if announced, cinemas must be responsible for preserving and have specific regulations to prevent visitors' images from leaking out, especially spreading on social networks.

Currently, a controversial issue is the installation of cameras in preschools. In Ho Chi Minh City, it is expected that by the 2019-2020 school year, mass camera installation will be implemented in 24 districts with classrooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, kitchens, school gates, playgrounds, etc. Through the pilot and survey, 50% of teachers did not agree to be supervised and also 50% of parents were concerned that the images of their children in class were made public on the internet.

How to monitor and ensure that the installation of cameras does not violate privacy when information technology and electronics are developing rapidly? According to the proposal of some lawmakers, there should be more specific regulations on the use of surveillance cameras in offices and public places to balance public interests (security reasons, anti-theft, traffic control systems...) and the private interests of individuals need to be protected from the abuse of images collected from public cameras.