Mustafi, in Viti/Vitina, reported his neighbour to the police. The neighbour, Samet Mustafa, confirmed he had been visited by the police but said he had given them a guarantee that he would not film Mustafi’s property.
“We don’t want to see his yard, but we have a property, and we need to protect it,” Samet Mustafa told BIRN.
When he granted BIRN access to the cameras, however, it was clear that one of them pointed into Mustafi’s yard and part of the road leading to his house, despite Mustafa’s continued denials.
According to the regulations in Kosovo, an entity must seek permission from the IPA to install security cameras, display clearly a notice that the premises are under surveillance and specify the data retention period. This appeared to be the case at Mustafa’s property.
“Cameras are placed for the security of people, property and confidential information, but without violating citizens’ privacy,” said the IPA’s Mustafa.
“In private properties, camera surveillance can only monitor the owner’s perimetre, not public spaces or the properties of neighbours.”
Even public institutions have been caught, as with the case of a school in the central municipality of Malisheve/Malisevo, which was found to have installed cameras in violation of regulations. The IPA halted their use until the situation was rectified.
Privacy agency overstretched