Cameras combing Luxembourg’s forests for wolves and badgers should come with signs warning hikers and others passing nearby that their images could be captured, government ministers said Tuesday.
Who controls the images of joggers or nature lovers enjoying the green environment oblivious to cameras positioned in trees or brush? lawmaker Marc Goergen asked Communications and Media Minister Xavier Bettel and Environment Minister Joëlle Welfring in September.
Whoever positions the camera and uses the recording must be able to prove compliance with privacy-protection laws, the ministers said in a response published Tuesday.
The cameras should be pointed down at the ground to avoid capturing faces that can be recognisable, should be installed away from walking paths, and advance notice must be given that passers-by may be filmed, the ministers wrote.
“This obligation to provide information can be realized, for example, by hanging a sign or a pictogram in the immediate vicinity of the monitored zone,” the ministers wrote. The signs must include information about who posted the camera, what they are trying to achieve by filming, and how to reach them, the ministers said.
Cameras have helped to confirm several wolf sightings in northern Luxembourg in recent years after the predators became extinct across much of Europe in the 19th century.