Police Body Cameras and Data Protection Standards in Maryland
By: Farzaan Ijaz
A recent article in the Baltimore Sun has brought attention to the substandard data privacy policies put into practice for police body cameras.[1] The recent call to an increase in the number of police body cameras circulated brings with it the issue of how to protect what will be massive amounts of data collected on citizens. Many people already show reluctance to increase the number of police body cameras in use because of concerns about how they made be intrusive to the lives of those people being recorded by the police. This fear becomes more of a reality if the collection of data recorded isn’t properly protected.
Given the massive amount of data, complexity of data protection issues and citizen fears, Maryland Police Training commission’s decision to forego a standardized policy in favor of allowing each agency to create their own set of security policies is a risky policy. Essentially, they have allowed for the creation of substandard cybersecurity policies to be introduced in a variety of different districts. Further, the headache involved with attempting to match protocols between different departments when they work together on one case will further increase the cost while continuing to leave significant cybersecurity risk present.
It would be one course of action if an alternative standard with a good reputation didn’t exist – but that’s where the FBI’s widely accepted and trusted Criminal Justice Information Services Division Security Policy (CJIS) for body camera recordings comes into play. It has the strongest set of security protocols available to protect sensitive law enforcement information. Further, they have an added layer of security by requiring routine audits and background checks for individuals working with this sensitive data.
It is worth noting that this policy Is not set in stone. The Maryland Police Training Commission has said that in regards to the Implementation and Use of Body Cameras by Law Enforcement Officers, they will study and outline best practices for the use of body cameras in Maryland. Given this willingness to change and learn, hopefully the data protection standards for this sensitive data are properly implemented.
[1] http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-body-cameras-20151026-story.html