Camera surveillance during outdoor pool season:tips from data protection experts

With the start of the outdoor pool season, more and more operators are turning to video surveillance and artificial intelligence to prevent theft, break-ins and swimming accidents. Bettina Gayk, the State Data Protection Commissioner of North Rhine-Westphalia, points this out. However, not everything that is technically feasible is also permissible under data protection law. Particularly high data protection requirements apply in leisure facilities such as outdoor swimming pools, where visitors should be able to enjoy themselves freely. “Most guests are lightly clothed, many are children – whose data is particularly worth protecting,” emphasizes Gayk.

Video surveillance is only permitted within narrow limits: for example, recordings to protect against burglary or vandalism may only be made outside opening hours. During pool operation, cameras may only record entrance areas or access barriers, but not, for example, the seating areas, catering or changing rooms. According to Gayk, targeted video surveillance to preserve evidence may be permissible in individual cases of locker break-ins, but changing areas are generally taboo. Monitored areas should also be clearly marked, for example with colored markings on the floor.

“AI can supplement supervision, but never replace it,” warns Gayk, specifically regarding the use of AI systems to detect swimming accidents. The State Data Protection Commissioner of Baden-Württemberg, Tobias Keber, has also already addressed the issue of AI video surveillance in swimming pools. “This is more than classic video surveillance. This means that the cameras you have there are connected to databases and AI systems,” explained Keber in an interview with heise online. The idea is a good one, but it needs to be carefully examined whether and in which country AI systems are subsequently trained with the data.

In the Europabad in Karlsruhe, for example, the “drowning detection system” Lynxnight from Israel is used for the outdoor pool in the Europabad, which works with installed cameras. “Staff receive information about possible events in the outdoor pool via smartwatches,” according to a statement from the Europabad at the end of May. Over 1,000 events have already been registered since the start of use in February, but none have required intervention. According to data protection experts, the error rate of such systems is still high, and in an emergency, only people can save lives.

Monitoring system from Israel

“As the system learns with every report, it currently triggers a high number of reports, which staff evaluate using the feedback function. It turns out that most of these messages are triggered by short dives and do not represent an actual risk,” it continues. According to Kevin Drobot, deputy shift manager at Europabad Karlsruhe, the staff are optimistic that the system will be a valuable aid to pool operations in the future thanks to the continuous feedback. The system does not store image data, “only movement patterns”.

Operators should consult their data protection officer at an early stage before using new monitoring technologies. The state data protection officer offers information and advice to clarify uncertainties in advance and avoid complaints.

(mack)