The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is looking into a possible breach of the Data Protection Act by Virgin Trains when it released CCTV footage from one of its trains following Jeremy Corbyn’s claim that he was unable to find a seat.
On 11th August, Jeremy Corbyn made a recording of himself sitting on the floor of a Virgin Train carriage claiming that the train was ram-packed.
Virgin Trains hit back with CCTV footage of Corbyn passing a number of empty seats on the train before willingly sitting on the floor. However, Virgin may have acted too hastily as the ICO are now investigating whether the release of this feed breaches data protection laws.
An image of a person on CCTV can constitute personal data and thus needs to be processed in accordance with the strict principles laid down in the Data Protection Act. This includes the requirement that the processing of data is fair and lawful.
No doubt, Virgin will seek to argue that it considered the publication necessary to rebut negative comments and postings made publicly by Corbyn, however, whether the ICO will be on board with this – only time will tell!