The ECJ had ruled in the proceedings C‑708/18 on a reference from the Regional Court of Bucharest, Romania, to answer the question of whether national rules permitting video surveillance in common areas of a residential building for the protection and security of persons and property are compatible with the Data Protection Directive (EC/95/46) in the light of the Charter. In doing so, the ECJ holds that
- the protection of the property, health and life of the co-owners of a building is a “legitimate interest” within the meaning of Art. 7 lit. f of the Directive;
- the legitimate interest must be at the time of processing have arisen and be present, i.e., at this time it may be not hypothetical be. However, this does not require that the security of property and persons has already been compromised beforehand. In the present case, it is sufficient that thefts, burglaries and vandalism occurred before the video surveillance system was put into operation, although a security system with intercom and magnetic card was installed at the building entrance;
- as alternative measures had been taken in the form of the security system installed at the entrance to the building, but proved to be insufficient, and as video surveillance was limited to Common areas of the building and on the Access routes to him, proportionality was ensured. However, it must be examined whether it is sufficient if the video surveillance only at night or outside normal working hours is in operation and when images of areas that do not need to be monitored are blocked or blurred;
- the required Weighing of interests must be carried out on a case-by-case basis. A Member State cannot categorically and generally exclude the processing of certain categories of personal data without leaving room for a concrete balancing exercise.