Source: https://docs.dos.ny.gov/coog/ftext/f8832.htm
Timestamp: 2017-10-24 09:40:20
Document Index: 15013890

Matched Legal Cases: ['§92', '§92', '§92', '§96', '§89', '§96', '§ 89', '§87']

93-A-7854
I have received your letter of April 2. You have contended that your correctional facility is violating your "civil rights and/or prisoner rights" by videotaping normal daily activities without your "written consent."
In this regard, while I do not have the expertise or authority to comment with respect to your civil rights, relevant in my view is the Personal Privacy Protection Law, which deals in part with the disclosure of records or personal information by state agencies concerning data subjects. A "data subject" is "any natural person about whom personal information has been collected by an agency" [Personal Privacy Protection Law, §92(3)]. "Personal information" is defined to mean "any information concerning a data subject which, because of name, number, symbol, mark or other identifier, can be used to identify that data subject" [§92(7)]. For purposes of Personal Privacy Protection Law, the term "record" is defined to mean "any item, collection or grouping of personal information about a data subject which is maintained and is retrievable by use of the name or other identifier of the data subject" [§92(9)]. Section 94(1)(a) of that statute provides that a state agency shall maintain only that personal information "which is relevant and necessary to accomplish a purpose of the agency required to be accomplished by statute or executive order, or to implement a program specifically authorized by law." From my perspective, it is likely that the Department of Correctional Services clearly has the ability to videotape inmates for purposes of safety and security.
With respect to disclosure, §96(1) of the Personal Privacy Protection Law states that "No agency may disclose any record or personal information", except in conjunction with a series of exceptions that follow. One of those exceptions involves when a record is "subject to article six of this chapter [the Freedom of Information Law], unless disclosure of such information would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision two of section eighty-nine of this chapter".
It is noted, too, that §89(2-a) of the Freedom of Information Law states that "Nothing in this article shall permit disclosure which constitutes an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy as defined in subdivision two of this section if such disclosure is prohibited under section ninety-six of this chapter". Therefore, if a state agency cannot disclose records pursuant to §96 of the Personal Protection Law, it is precluded from disclosing under the Freedom of Information Law.
Nevertheless, the Court stated that "portions of the tapes showing inmates in states of undress, engaged in acts of personal hygiene or being subjected to strip frisks" could be withheld as an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy (id., 112), and that "[t]here may be additional portrayals on the tapes of inmates in situations which would be otherwise unduly degrading or humiliating, disclosure of which 'would result in *** personal hardship to the subject party' (Public Officers Law § 89 [2] [b] [iv])" (id.). The court also found that some aspects of videotapes might be withheld on the ground that disclosure would endanger the lives or safety of inmates or correctional staff [see Freedom of Information Law, §87(2)(f)]. I hope that I have been of some assistance.