(SHELBY THEVENOT / iNFOnews.ca)

A BC landlord who used surveillance camera footage of a tenant in an attempt to evict them has been ordered to remove the cameras and delete all of the tenant's personal information.

According to a May 25 Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC decision, the landlord used CCTV footage of the tenant to allege she was subletting her apartment to her partner while she was overseas and then sent her an eviction notice.

The case ended up at the Residential Tenancy Branch which dismissed the landlord's eviction notice.

During the landlord-tenant dispute the landlord, FHBW Investments Co., submitted four pictures of the tenant taken from surveillance cameras in the apartment complex.

The unnamed tenant complained to her landlord that it had improperly "collected, used, viewed and disclosed" her video images without her consent.

When the landlord didn't respond, she filed a complaint with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

The decision says the tenant has lived in her apartment since 2004 and did not consent to the cameras that were put in the building in 2010.

In her complaint to the Privacy Commissioner, the tenant said the landlord used the footage to harass her for having a house sitter when she left the country.

The tenant also claimed that the building manager admitted to frequently watching video recordings from the building’s video surveillance system, not for security reasons, but to monitor tenants and catch them breaking the rules.

She also argued the landlord disclosed to the Residential Tenancy Branch and to her ex-husband, video images and photographs from the building’s video surveillance system.

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The tenant said she never gave the owner, FHBW Investments Co., permission collection of her personal information to monitor her coming and going from the building.

"Indeed, she said she expressly told FHBW that she did not consent," the decision reads.

The landlord argued the cameras were for security reasons and to deter theft. It said it had signs up about the camera and an employee verbally told the tenants about them.

"A reasonable person would agree that it was acceptable for FHBW to monitor the entrance and exit of persons when it is suspected that a guest is staying in a suite for a continuous period of two weeks or more without FHBW’s permission," the landlord argued. "All reasonable tenants would have consented to the landlord monitoring to identify and exclude unauthorized occupants."

However, the tenant argued the landlord was using the cameras in an attempt to get rid of her so it can raise the rent and it was using the camera for unwanted monitoring and surveillance.

The Privacy Commissioner said the landlord hadn't explained how video surveillance could deter theft and unauthorized entry.

"Moreover, FHBW did not provide any details on the number and nature of incidents of theft or unauthorized entry which might justify video surveillance," the Privacy Commissioner ruled. "FHBW also did not explain what, if any, other less privacy intrusive methods it had tried to resolve or reduce any such problems."

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Ultimately, the Privacy Commissioner ruled that the landlord had contravened the Personal Information Protection Act and the tenant hadn't consented to have her personal information collected or disclosed.

It then ordered the landlord to disable the video cameras covering areas of the building where the tenant had access and to delete all the video images of her.

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