The Office for the Protection of Personal Data (GPDP) has agreed to install video surveillance systems in daycare centres, Ponto Final reports. The decision follows the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS)’ evaluation of daycare operations after a four-month-old’s death at the Fong Chong Nursery in Taipa.
IAS president Hon Wai noted that, with necessary operational adjustments, video surveillance could meet privacy requirements under Macao’s personal data protection laws as well as satisfy parental demands.
While details regarding the measure’s implementation have yet to be finalised, the initial plan is to install cameras in daycare centres’ more public areas.
[See more: More CCTV cameras come into operation today across Macao]
Wai emphasised the need to balance people’s expectations of privacy versus safety and acknowledged that complete surveillance – covering the likes of bathrooms – would not be universally accepted.
To compensate for some unmonitored spaces, Wai said better staffing arrangements could see at least two employees supervising children at any one time.
Following the tragic incident in Taipa, the Fong Chong Nursery will close by the year’s end. The IAS is helping move the 68 affected children to other establishments.
The parents of the deceased child had campaigned for the government to install surveillance cameras in daycare centres, in a bid to prevent what happened to their child from happening to others. More than 8,000 people signed their petition.
