According to a proposal by the vice-president of the council, Bruno Parreira (PSD), the draft of the inter-administrative cooperation contract with the PSP was unanimously approved, which aims to “regulate the use of equipment related to the video surveillance system”, intended for the protection of “people and public and private property, in the municipality of Sintra”, as well as the “personal data subcontracting agreement”.

The municipality of Sintra and the PSP have identified the locations where the installation of video surveillance cameras is justified, “with the aim of preventing and repressing crime and combating the feeling of insecurity experienced in some parishes in the municipality”, according to the draft inter-administrative contract, to which Lusa had access.

According to the Internal Security Law, video surveillance systems can only be used “to protect the safety of people, animals and property, in public places or places with public access, and to prevent the commission of acts classified by law as crimes, in places where there is a reasonable risk of their occurrence”.

The project submitted by the National Directorate of the PSP and the municipality for approval, “foreseen the installation of 144 video cameras, at points identified by the PSP as necessary, taking into account the number of criminal incidents” in each of the locations, the document reads.

The National Data Protection Commission (CNPD), in an opinion of June 2024, ruled on the “compliance of the proposed system with the technical requirements of the equipment” provided, as well as on “compliance with the principles of use of the cameras”.

Under the contract, the municipality installs the entire video monitoring system, through the acquisition of the private fiber optic network to be used by the National Internal Security Network, and the video cameras, while a management and control centre is created at the PSP facilities, for recording and viewing the collected images.

The approved system is authorized to operate for three years, starting from the effective start of operations, when the contract between the municipality and the PSP comes into force.

“The cameras will not be on every street or every corner”, pointed out the socialist mayor, rejecting the idea that, obviously, we will start “living in a kind of ‘Big Brother’”.