2024-03-13 05:00:08
After tenants discovered cameras in their accommodation, Airbnb decided to ban cameras inside rental accommodation on its site. But what regarding in condominiums? The platform obviously cannot ban cameras in common areas. It is up to the general meeting of co-owners to decide, by a majority of article 24 (simple majority), and not to the trustee, except in cases of emergency, following a succession of burglaries for example. An owner cannot decide alone to install a camera in the common areas of the building. For Me Jean-Philippe Mariani, lawyer in co-ownership law, it would be a “disproportionate invasion of the privacy of other residents, whether the camera was installed in the hall, on the landing or in a courtyard».
However, co-owners cannot install cameras anywhere. The camera is there to secure a co-ownership without encroaching on one’s private life. In order not to upset this delicate balance, the challenge is to know what the co-owners want to film. “Video surveillance must have the sole objective of filming common areas, to the exclusion of any privatized part, whether for example apartment doors or balconies and windows, as the CNIL (National Commission for Information Technology and Liberties) states this explicitly», recalls Jean-Philippe Mariani.
Images should be kept for less than a month
Two conditions must still be respected to comply with the “information technology and freedoms” law. People should be informed with permanently visible signs before the camera’s view, so they know they are being filmed. Afterwards, recorded images cannot be kept for more than one month, according to the CNIL which adds that they must only be consulted in the event of an incident (vandalism, damage, aggression, etc.). According to Me Mariani, it would even be prudent to reserve access to the images only for the building manager and not for the union council or the building caretaker.
Finally, what regarding “common areas with private enjoyment”? Can the holder of the right of private use install video surveillance cameras without authorization from the general meeting? “It seems to us that the answer is positive even if this point has not been decided by case lawreplies Jean-Philippe Mariani. Indeed, these spaces are fully protected by the right to privacy, just like an apartment.» As long as the areas filmed are in these sectors of private enjoyment and therefore do not film third parties, authorization does not seem necessary.
1710310606
#install #camera #legally #condominium
