CCTV of swimming pool playing in cafe

Yes, I was wondering why @Imdunfer is at pains to stress that it's a "wet" swimming costume she's concerned about. Also the "dark" seating area - how dark can it possibly be?

I'm very conscious of it when posters use language to try and manipulate readers to their side of the debate, which it feels like is happening here.

OP, get a swimsuit that is definitely not see-through when wet.

And please tell us what your concerns are.....

OP: I don't like it
Why not?
OP: Because I don't like it.
Yeah, but why not? What are you worried about?
OP: I'm not worried, I just don't like it.

🙄

I agree with you OP. They have this at my gym, anyone can use the cafe, even non members. It’s weird and also a bit pointless as the picture isn’t the clearest. They’d be better just to scrap it altogether.

CCTV used by an organisation is covered by GDPR, they have to use the footage for its designated purpose and there needs to be clear signage.

In a swimming pool the purpose of CCTV is generally safety, if the cafe is unmanned they can’t justify showing it there. Showing footage in a cafe to allow parents to watch swimming lessons is not justifiable for safety. They should have appropriate lifeguards for the pool to assure safety. Any usage has to proportionate, this means they can’t relay on a dubious argument.

Write to their data protection lead and ask for a copy of their data protection impact assessment for showing the footage in the cafe.

@Imdunferout of curiosity, what is it specifically that you “don’t like” about the setup? Also, why do you think people will be that interested in you to spend their time watching you (I mean that in the nicest possible sense: most people have other things to be interested in and / or will likely just be staring at their phones most of the time).

I ask as being clear on it with yourself might help you come to the crux of the issue (which may not be the CCTV).

At our pool, anyone can sit in the viewing area and watch anyway. For swimming lessons, a parent has to be watching so it's helpful for them if they just popped into the cafe area to grab a drink.

When I worked as a teacher, we were expressly forbidden to take photos of children while swimming. Whether it is for parents or a record of achievement. There is something suspect about keeping videos of people vulnerable people in a swimming pool that’s why most public pools do not allow it. I would pursue it if not with the pool then with the local council.

I can only quote my late, unlamented mother whose response to anything like this was invariably "Nobody's looking at YOU!!! "

Genuinely, why do you think it's there then? I actually sympathise with your view about what other purposes people could be using it for (i used to work in a public library where men would very openly watch porn on the computers so am under no illusions about being in public necessarily being a deterrent) but why do you think the pool would have bothered to have it installed?

YABU. When my child did swimming lessons a I’d have loved to have been able to sit in the cafe and keep an eye on her. Anyone could be watching from anywhere, it’s not like the cctv from the changing room is being broadcast

I was going to say this but didn’t want it to turn into a debate about selfish swimmers who are trying to swim lengths and deliberately splashing the rightful users who want to stand around at the ends chatting.

@Imdunfer why are you only engaging with people who disagree with you? The thread seems pretty evenly split but if you click to see all of your comments you would think pretty much everyone thinks YABU.

But if you are on a beach in your bathing costume, you're being seen by anyone and everyone, aren't you? Given it's only gym members who can see the screen, I can't imagine they're going there just to look at people.

I think that's very different - and surely made the session inaccessible to some of the women who women-only sessions are designed for, those who (for religious reasons or otherwise) don't swim in front of men. I think that was completely unacceptable and should have been dealt with by staff.

"When you're on the beach you know who's there, how many people can see you..."

You know everybody that's on the beach on a August day in the Algarve and do a head count ?

I don't do lengths I'm in there to sit in the water after a weights session or a treadmill walk and use the spa facilities.

Obviously off the point of the thread, but what an annoying use of the pool! Surely you're driving people trying to actually use it mad?

I think this is far more about you to be honest.

Obviously you're free to complain but do you actually expect them to do something about it?

And if so, what?

If it bothers people that much why are they going swimming where they will be seen by other pool users, shower areas and changing rooms?
I doubt anyone cares what anyone else is doing anyway.

I'm not confident in my swimming costume and would rather not know if people are watching me or not so I'd rather be seen on CCTV than have someone staring at me from the poolside.
I don't think it's a massive risk for the children as they are covered in a costume and presumably their parents are there so very small risk of anything happening. Probably about the same amount of risk as a pool where people can sit poolside.

When your swimming do you look through the window to see whose watching you?!

I mean presumably you are mostly in the water while swimming anyway. With the water moving around you it's not like anyone can see you clearly anyway. Unless it's the kind of pool where you'd be lying on a sunlounger around it?

Our gym has the pool on a CCTV screen in the reception area, so you can see how busy it is. You can't see anything with people swimming as their bodies are underwater. Wouldn't occur to me to be bothered at all.

It wouldn't bother me personally to the extent that I wouldn't even think about it I don't think.
However I can understand your feelings, I used to go to a woman only swim session and there was a bloke, I think the partner of one of the swimmers, used to sit watching in the seats, which made me very irate. It wasn't that I particularly cared about him watching me, I went to women only because it was less busy and less splashy rather than for any other reason, and I think he was watching his partner not everyone, but it was the entitlement.
Butlins used to have windows in the cafes that were below the pool surface, so you got a lovely view of everyones' legs and bums, I wonder if they still do.

The fact is that what the gym is doing is illegal - they have no notices clearly displayed stating that cctv is in operation. The chances are that they have no policies around data control, retention of recordings and who can access the recordings.