Church street security camera
| Submitted | Dec. 18, 2018 |
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From: Brian Waters
To Whom It May Concern:
The following public records request is being made pursuant to the Vermont Public Records Act.
There is a security camera mounted on a light pole on Church Street, near the intersection with Cherry Street, approximately in front of the Uncommon Grounds coffee shop and the Dear Lucy shoe store. (A photograph of the camera is attached.) The camera's location on a street light suggests it is owned and operated by the city. I am requesting the following records related to this camera:
1) Data retention policies for footage from the camera. Responsive records should list where, how, and by whom the footage is stored, when footage is deleted, and under what circumstances footage can be indefinitely retained.
2) Data access policies for footage from the camera. Responsive records should specify who is authorized to access the footage, and under what circumstances.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.
I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 3 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Brian Waters
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From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Vermont Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Dec. 18, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Mr. Waters,
The City is in receipt of your public records request seeking data retention and access policies for footage from the below described camera located on the Church Street Marketplace. After consulting with the Church Street Marketplace Department and having Church Street staff conduct searches for responsive records, it has been determined that the there are no records responsive to this request.
If you have particular questions about the camera that you would like to discuss, I am copying Ron Redmond who is the Director of the Church Street Marketplace. Please contact Mr. Redmond with any such questions.
Sincerely,
Nick
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Nicholas J. Lopez
Assistant City Attorney
Office of City Attorney & Corporate Counsel
149 Church St., Room 11
Burlington, VT 05401
Nlopez@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:Nlopez@burlingtonvt.gov>
(802) 865-7126
The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments is confidential and intended solely for the use of those to whom it is addressed. This communication may contain material protected by the attorney-client privilege, as attorney work-product, or based on other privileges or provisions of law. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, or disclose this e-mail or any of its attachments to others. Instead, immediately notify the sender by replying to this e-mail and then delete it from your system.
From: Brian Waters
Hello Mr. Redmond and Mr. Lopez,
This is a follow-up to a recent public records request, in which I sought records relating to a security camera attached to a light pole near the Uncommon Grounds coffee shop. (The original requst is reproduced below.)
In short, I requested data retention and data access policies for this camera, and was told by Mr. Lopez that no such records exist. I'm unclear whether this means that the camera is operated by the city, but without an explicit data retention policy, or whether the camera is operated by some other party. Would you be able to clarify which is the case?
Thank you,
Brian Waters
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Hi Brian, for the record, Burlington City Hall is located in Burlington, Vermont - you have listed St. Alban's, Vermont.
The Marketplace Department is a city department and the camera was installed by us a few years ago. Are you seeking to understand how much data the camera stores until it automatically deletes that data? The only source I can think of is the manufacturer's manual, which might list that information. Let me know. Ron.
From: Brian Waters
Thank you, Ron, for your response and for pointing out that typo w/ city hall's address. I will fix that in our database.
I am seeking to understand who operates the cameras on Church Street (the Marketplace, the Police Department, vendors, or some other party), how long footage is kept, who has access to it, and under what circumstances.
It sounds like the camera in front of Uncommon Grounds is operated by the Marketplace, but there is not an explicit policy on file w/ regards to data retention and access. In that case, any user manuals or documentation for the camera (and also for any storage solution that might exist separately from the camera) would be helpful.
Thank you,
Brian Waters
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Vermont Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Dec. 18, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Hello Brian,
Thank you for the email. The City responded to your original public records request seeking data retention and access policies when we indicated that there were not documents responsive to your request.
In reading your email below, I understand that you would like to file a new public records request seeking "any user manuals or documentation for the camera (and also for any storage solution that may exist separate from the camera)." Can you confirm this is the basis of your request?
If so, the City can move forward with processing your request, but I just need confirmation that this is your request.
Sincerely,
Nick
----
Nicholas J. Lopez
Assistant City Attorney
Office of City Attorney & Corporate Counsel
149 Church St., Room 11
Burlington, VT 05401
Nlopez@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:Nlopez@burlingtonvt.gov>
(802) 865-7126
The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments is confidential and intended solely for the use of those to whom it is addressed. This communication may contain material protected by the attorney-client privilege, as attorney work-product, or based on other privileges or provisions of law. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, or disclose this e-mail or any of its attachments to others. Instead, immediately notify the sender by replying to this e-mail and then delete it from your system.
From: Brian Waters
Thanks again for the response Nick.
I meant the question as an informal question to Mr. Redmond, but I am happy to move forward treating it as a formal request. In that case, let's move forward w/ a formal VT PRA request for "any user manuals or documentation for the camera (and also for any storage solution that may exist separate from the camera)". The camera in question is the one in front of the Uncommon Grounds coffee shop and the Dear Lucy shoe store on Church Street, as described previously in this email chain.
I appreciate you clarifying here,
Brian Waters
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Hi all. Brian, per our conversation I promised to track down a user's manual for the camera and the storage unit it's connected to. I'll work on this tomorrow. Thanks for your patience!!. Best, Ron.
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Hi Brian, See the attached cut sheet (EXACQ ELPR SERIES) of the Bosch / Exacq system we are currently using. The second document (CSM-PTZ Camera Project 2015) is the proposal I found from 2015, which describes in more detail, the camera on Church Street, located near Cherry Street intersection. The proposal mentions the possibility of other cameras on Church Street, a plan that we did not move forward with those because of the cost. Please let me know if this info is helpful to you, Ron.
From: Brian Waters
Thanks very much, Ron! This is very helpful.
Have a great weekend,
Brian
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