Regardless of the type of organization one runs nowadays; it requires ample security measures to prevent any crimes within the area. And the best way to ensure protection against different ill intents is to implement a video surveillance policy.

Daycare services must think about the safety and well-being of the kids there and assure their parents that their kids are in good hands. It can be done thanks to the advanced surveillance techs. However, a proper and effective security system demands a well-executed plan and policy.

Let’s discuss this matter more in this article and find out the best policy and legal considerations associated with daycare video surveillance.

Purpose of the Daycare Video Surveillance Policy

Criminals don’t think about where they are planning to commit a crime and often can go as far as going to places where people expect them less. As such, it is mandatory to have video surveillance policies in sensitive areas such as daycares.

It gives the parents peace of mind when they can observe their children on a live video and allows the daycare owner to monitor everything. Thus, the authorities and managers can keep everything okay and ensure the staff members behave well with the kids.

We will talk more about these in a later section. But you can see the two primary reasons behind video surveillance installation in daycares.

Scope and Implementation of the Policy

Implementing a video surveillance policy within the daycare must follow certain steps. It can’t just be the installation of the associated software and hardware, but many factors are involved. Let’s give you a rundown of the ranges and embracement of the standards below-

Legality Concerns

Just like any other workplace, daycare also falls under many legality and ethics related to video surveillance. For example, no video cameras or audio recording devices can be in or pointed at any areas where people have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Like that, there are other related laws when it comes to daycare surveillance. The owners and authorities must educate themselves and the staff about them and ensure to add them within the designing phase of the surveillance system.

Privacy Concerns

While the privacy sector falls within the realm of legality, it may not be all. Even if something is not forbidden by the law in your state, it may still be heavily disliked by the guardians or not good for the kids.

When implementing video surveillance in your daycare, you must think carefully about whether the covered areas are breaching the privacy of anyone. In addition, you must also ensure who can access the video data during and after the recording.

Notifications

Again, the law will require you to notify everyone in your facility to be notified about video surveillance, especially in an all-party consent state. Currently, 13 states require you to inform everyone on the site if you are recording them.

Simply put a notification near the entrance mentioning that the area is being monitored and use any other language besides English if at least 5% of the staff speaks that specific language.

Guidelines on Proper Maintenance and Privacy Protection

Maintaining the surveillance system while ensuring the protection of everyone’s privacy can be a more hassling task than you think. However, the troubles are far outweighed by the benefits. Anyway, here are some simple guidelines you can follow or consider regarding the surveillance management-

Video Data

Even before designing the video surveillance system, you must plan who will get to access the data. It is a very sensitive matter, as only a selected few should be able to get it. The lesser the number of people with access, the better.

Also, you must think about the security of the archived data. It must use enough protections, such as data encryption, passwords, and two-step verifications, to ensure no unauthorized access.

Finally, how long you can keep the data stored is another crucial matter. It is best to delete the video file within 90 calendar days after recording.

Camera Locations

When selecting locations to set up the cameras, you must check their coverage carefully. While you want it to have as much coverage as possible, it is also imperative not to let any private areas be within the camera’s point of view.

Even if your camera is within a shared space without privacy expectations, it may still have any significant area of the private place within its view. So, think about these factors and choose the camera locations wisely.

Keeping Transparency

Since we have already discussed the notification factor, we won’t touch it more. Just remember to inform everyone, including the staff member and the guardians about the video surveillance within the area via a notice board, sign, or verbally.

Regular Checkups

It will be wise to check the whole system occasionally using your VSaaS provider or a technician to ensure nothing is unusual. Some factors to check are-

• Which people are in access to the video data or live footage.
• Whether all the cameras, switches, recorders and other devices are functioning correctly.
• If there is any breach of privacy or the surveillance policy standardized by the authorities.
• Whether the surveillance system is aiding the organization as intended or if any changes are necessary in accordance with any changes or emergence of the legal codes.

Benefits and Advantages of Daycare Video Surveillance

We previously talked a bit about the purposes of having video surveillance policies in daycares. However, we have touched upon the matter in more detail here. Let’s show you some areas where having surveillance cameras in childcare can assist.

Deterring Crime

Undoubtedly, the security of the daycare’s children, staff members, and resources elevates much higher upon the implementation of video surveillance. Aside from deterring crime, it can also aid in catching thieves or only letting wanted people access the premises.

You usually install bullet cameras in plain sight near the entrance as a means of deterring people with malicious intent. However, it is also worth installing some concealed inside the site. So, even if the criminals manage to find any blind spot from the coverage, they will be oblivious to the hidden cameras. Thus, the staff can be warned without intruders knowing about it.

Preventing Hazards

Accidents are not often followed by any harbingers to give the people any chance to prepare. However, with surveillance cameras planted within the site, the staff there can be alerted to the first spark of the incident.

Be it flame, smoke, floor, or electric sparks, someone monitoring the premises via the system can immediately notice it. However, one doesn’t have to be in front of a monitor 24/7, as advanced analytics can do the job.

In case you don’t know, video analytics is software that uses artificial intelligence to perform a multitude of tasks. One of their typical features is to detect hazards within their coverage. So, even if nobody notices it or is present on the premises, the authorities can be alerted in no time about an accident about to happen.

Keeping a Good Behavior

It is not easy to handle kids, and many may often lose control of their emotions. However, having surveillance cameras around to watch their actions can deter them from letting those emotions lose on innocent children.

Thus, video surveillance can keep the staff members to the best of their behavior and ensure that the children are staying in a healthy and peaceful environment.

Rescue and Helps

Suppose someone within the daycare, children or staff, gets sick in an area where people hardly visit. It would be bad for the person in everyday situations as it may get late before they get help. However, thankfully, video surveillance cameras can notify people about it.

Yes, video analytics can also alert authorities when someone is moving suspiciously or abnormally. Help will be there swiftly, and it can potentially prevent even worse-case scenarios.

Monitoring the Premise

Aside from any dangerous or difficult situations, video surveillance also assists the managers or owners of the daycare in monitoring their premises and ensuring that things are going smoothly. They can count heads, notice anything unusual, or keep track of parents.

High Efficiency

Instead of implementing more human resources than needed by hiring guards for the premise, video surveillance can come way less cheap. Of course, having guards is a must during emergencies. However, you won’t have to station someone at every corner now and instead can get more people to help with different parts of the daycare instead.

Peace of Mind for the Guardians

Modern video surveillance systems allow remote access and observation of video data. It also removes the issue of the limitation of devices being too low. As such, multiple guardians can view their youngsters simultaneously and stay relaxed without worrying. Moreover, the more people watching the premise, the fewer the chances of anything going amiss.

Video surveillance systems usually use a cloud server managed by the IT provider to stream the video. The good thing is that only those allowed access can get the data. So no unwanted people will be able to monitor anything.

Legal and Ethical Considerations

Legality is one of the crucial parts of video surveillance planning, no matter the organization. All states in the USA have set out rules and regulations about it. And, of course, violations of those rules tend to be followed by penalties. Let’s go over some of them-

Federal Laws Regarding Video Surveillance

While federal agencies make it imperative for many businesses to implement video surveillance, daycare isn’t one of them. There is no such requirement. However, the agencies still recommend people use these security measures and store the video footage for a set amount of time (30 days, but not mandatory) to ensure the kids’ safety.

However, other federal and state laws may require the owner or authorities of the daycare to follow some factors, such as-

• The cameras must be placed only in public and shared areas, such as the playground, entrance, or study rooms. So, none of them can be in the bathroom, changing room, or such.
• There must be ample arrangements to notify everyone about the cameras and surveillance.
• The access and storage of the video data must be under control. Only the parents and staff members should have access.
• The video footage must only be used for any urgent matters or emergencies and not for any other reasons.

State Laws

Depending on whether the state uses an all-party or one-party consent rule, the surveillance must also follow it. However, note that this rule only applies to public places outside the daycare, like near the entrance. You still need to comply with federal regulations and let everyone know about it if cameras are inside the premises, even if it is a one-party consent state.

Other Ethical Consideration

While not specified by rules, the following factors can be associated with the privacy of staff and children and so should be under consideration-

• Nobody in the daycare vicinity, staff, owner, or even children should record videos or make a vlog, be it just for fun or advertisement. Otherwise, it will raise privacy concerns.
• There should be tracking and documentation of every guardian every time they access the footage in the classroom.

Communication and Parental Consent

It is mandatory to get consent from the parents when implementing the video surveillance system or when new guardians are bringing their kids for the first time. Simply notifying them may not do, as you need to get their signed agreement.

It can be tricky at some moments since not everyone favors surveillance yet. So, you need to prepare the proper ways to persuade and assure them. You must be clear about your surveillance policies and let them know how secure your system is. It will also be a good idea to introduce them to the various advantages of video surveillance in daycare mentioned above.

Remember that the right to privacy and personal autonomy is given to every citizen, including the legal guardians of the children in your daycare. So, breaching that right without proof of consent can be a grave mistake on your part. Even if it doesn’t involve legal consequences, it can generate mistrust in the parents and staff members.

Do not hand out leaflets or such, and talk it out directly. You must be totally transparent and detailed when explaining the different aspects.

Additionally, there should be restrictions for parents as well. Such as-

• The parents should only be able to view their child through video surveillance after an appointment. It is to protect the privacy of all the other children in the daycare.
• Guardians can only monitor their own children. They won’t be allowed to view any other part of the childcare.
• There must be proper security regarding how parents access the video footage. If it is through an app or online portal, opening an account and logging in must be required. Meanwhile, for accessing the cloud server, the parents will have to ask for permission from the authorities.

Review and Oversight of Video Surveillance

Of course, there have been cases in the past where people didn’t manage to abide by all the video surveillance laws or failed to keep up their policy. What’s more, many have talked against these techs because of how they breach privacy. For example-

• Many believe that the usage of surveillance in the daycare of educational institutes is a representation of Foucault’s notion of the panopticon. It compares the places with prison, except that only the people under watch are free to come and go.
• There have been cases where employers used the video data of employees and used it against them.
• Many teachers and daycare staff also don’t like video surveillance in their workplace.

Conclusion

Surveillance in Daycare must have full-fledged plans, and the owner must execute them to the minute details. There mustn’t be any loopholes that criminals can use, or parents can question. Once you ensure that all parts are perfectly put, you can be confident about your surveillance policy and balance between privacy and security law.

The good news is that parents are encouraged more nowadays to use surveillance and cameras to keep their babies safe. Many even use their smartphones or implement live CCTV in their child’s rooms to check on them whenever needed.