Transferring security footage to a third party may be infringement of privacy

A café let a third party watch security footage which was then uploaded to a Facebook post accusing a woman of theft.

The Court held that the giving the footage to a person who does not have a position in the café constitutes an infringement of the woman's privacy. Under the guidelines of the Israeli Ministry of Justice regarding security cameras, while a security footage is not a database, restrictions apply to them, including the prohibition to make use of the footage or passing them on to a third party which is not related to the organization or for a purpose other than that for which the cameras were placed and to which those entering the café consented to being filmed. This, unless the delivery of the footage is done under circumstances where the café had a legal, moral or social obligation to do so. Here, even if the café did not know that the footage would be used as part of a Facebook publication that constitutes defamation, it should not have allowed a third party to view the footage and is even more obligated not to allow the release of the videos from its possession and control through copying. The café does not have any defense of circumstances of legal, moral or social obligation and therefore the delivery of the videos constitutes an infringement of privacy and it must compensate the woman.