Hi, can anyone advise about the legality of putting CCTVs in nursing homes in Malaysia? My parents are in a nursing home and I suspect the staff may be abusing/neglecting them, and covering up. Do I need to seek the nursing home’s permission to install a CCTV in their room (they share a two-bedded room by themselves and there are no other patients, so no other patients’ privacy is infringed). Thanks in advance.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer; I am not your lawyer
But I searched for recordings in private and public (and similar terms) and I got the following links: https://www.azmilaw.com/insights/covertly-obtained-telephone-conversation-is-it-admissible-in-court/ https://dnh.com.my/secret-recordings-are-they-admissible/
https://asklegal.my/p/cctv-camera-recording-surveillance-malaysia-property-privacy-pdpa
https://www.nst.com.my/news/2015/09/public-officials-and-private-space
https://dnh.com.my/secret-recordings-are-they-admissible/
the TLDR that I conclude is:
it’s a private property so the home’s management will be fully within their rights to deny your request, should you ask
you can however, for your parents, find some other way of recording - e.g. using the phone or some other device. you will definitely be at risk should you get caught. the risk is either you’ve done something without permission; or you’ve alerted the abuser (if there is one). be careful - any of that may cause a worsened treatment for your parents
if you do successfully record anything that can be used to bring up to management, it seems that as there’s no real privacy laws per se, they can’t hit you on this. They may use some other clause in the contract signed. Will there be a strong case? idk. most of them intimidation into dropping the complaint is enough.
ok, let’s say you’ve managed to win the initial faceoff with managment, then great. hopefully the abuser is fired and/or you get compensation and/or you feel better about your gut feeling and find a better nursing home. if they want to take legal action though, i would suggest you act first - because they’ve breached a duty of care to your parents. will the recordings be admissible as actual evidence? the links show that it’s not a given BUT because we don’t have a jury system it’s fine because if you can make the proper argument, the judge will still view/listen to the recordings and consider them in their judgment. Though I mean at this point, you better have a lawyer that’s great at contract law.