Some months ago, I read Fefe’s post on his blog, suggesting that we use the massive camera surveillance in the UK in order to request CCTV images from institutions or companies, instead of being disturbed all the time by taking our own photos on vacation in England. The UK’s Data Protection Act states that people are allowed to request CCTV footage of themselves.

I got inspired by this idea and I was just generally interested in whether the process of requesting information really works, how complicated it is, and so on. When I was visiting the Royal Observatory, Greenwich with my English friend, we found the ideal place to keep our vacation memories.

First, I called the company operating the CCTV. The name and contact details were written on the sign visible in the background of the footage, where we walk at the end of the video to read them. The friendly operator told me he was not aware of any regulations that would allow them to hand over video material. So I wrote a letter, as described on the government page, providing all necessary information and referencing the Data Protection Act. This worked out extremely well: one month later, without any further hassle or charges, we received a CD with the video in the post.