Basic Information on Video Surveillance

What is monitored?

In accordance with Art. 24 of the Bavarian Data Protection Act (BayDSG) (on Art. 6 GDPR), video surveillance and video storage are permitted in order to protect public facilities and their users. At the University of Würzburg, in addition to the public PC pools, the main areas monitored are those for which no dedicated supervisory staff are available and where there is a risk to persons and assets. Appropriate signs are clearly visible in all areas affected by video surveillance.

Why is there surveillance?

In recent years, thefts of IT equipment and other assets as well as cases of vandalism have increased. This has resulted in considerable financial losses for the university, and the repair of these losses also involves high personnel costs. Furthermore, due to the large campus at Hubland and the numerous facilities spread across the entire city of Würzburg, it is not possible to have these monitored by staff. The only cost-effective option for safeguarding the interests of the university and protecting individuals is video surveillance.

What about data protection?

Data protection is, of course, adequately taken into account. The stored video data is adequately secured and is only viewed for the purpose of criminal prosecution, i.e. only if something relevant under criminal or civil law has actually occurred. As a rule, the video data is deleted automatically and unseen after a certain period of time (see below). The entire procedure was agreed in advance with the university's data protection officer and authorised by him. The Staff Council was also involved in the approval process; a service agreement on video surveillance systems was concluded between the department and the Staff Council.

How is surveillance carried out?

The video cameras in the individual areas provide digital images that are continuously retrieved and recorded by a server; the server is located in the server room of the university's computer centre. Video data is technically protected against unauthorised access. The recorded data is only viewed in exceptional cases (see above) and only under the supervision of both the University's Data Protection Officer and a representative of the Staff Council.