ICO watchdog opens inquiry into cameras in mental health patients’ bedrooms

The information commissioner has launched an investigation into a controversial camera-based system for monitoring patients in their bedrooms, used by 40% of NHS mental health trusts, over data protection concerns. Oxevision is described by patients as “creepy” and a form of “spying” , and has been blamed by a bereaved mother for contributing to her daughter’s sense of paranoia before she took her own life. Oxehealth, the company behind Oxevision, which remotely watches patients with cameras and infrared sensors, said it increases patients’ safety and frees up NHS staff time. Lawyers for the campaign group Stop Oxevision asked the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to investigate the lawfulness of the way the system collects, processes and retains patient’s data, including video images of them. Rachel Harger, a partner at Bindmans, who made the request said: “A patient’s bedroom in hospital should, as far as possible, remain a sanctuary for care and treatment, where privacy is respected. “Organisations must be able to point to a clear lawful basis for this collection and processing of patient-derived data. Where they rely on consent, it must be properly obtained, freely given, and capable of being withdrawn.” The ICO confirmed to the Guardian that it had launched an investigation into Oxehealth, which has rebranded as LIO but said it could not comment further. …