“CCTV retention periods vary by psychiatric hospital” ... NHRCK recommends establishing legal standards

[Financial News] Even when incidents involving patient assaults or deaths occurred at some mental healthcare institutions, footage that could establish what happened at the time was either unavailable or had been deleted, making it difficult for victims and bereaved families to determine the facts. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommended that the Ministry of Health and Welfare establish legal standards for installing and operating CCTV systems at mental healthcare institutions and managing the footage.
According to the NHRCK on the 12th, on the 6th it recommended to the Minister of Health and Welfare that provisions on installing and operating CCTV and other fixed video-recording devices at mental healthcare institutions be incorporated into relevant laws, including the Mental Health and Welfare Act, and that operational and management policies be established and implemented. One proposal was to set retention periods of at least 30 days for general wards and at least 90 days for isolation rooms.
A survey by the NHRCK of 15 mental healthcare institutions in the Seoul metropolitan area from October to December last year found that CCTV installation and management practices varied by institution. The survey covered six psychiatric hospitals, seven psychiatric clinics, one psychiatric ward at a general hospital, and one psychiatric ward at a Korean medicine hospital. Through on-site inspections and interviews with healthcare workers and inpatients, the NHRCK examined facility conditions and CCTV operations, among other matters.
Some clinic-level institutions had no CCTV anywhere in their hospitals, including in locked wards with protective rooms. Some institutions operated CCTV without having separate operational and management policies, and the NHRCK also found institutions that failed to meet the standards for installing CCTV to monitor patients in protective rooms under the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s “Guidelines on Seclusion and Restraint.”
Problems were found not only with whether CCTV had been installed but also with how footage was managed. At the 13 institutions with CCTV, retention periods varied widely, from 7 to 30 days. The survey found that most institutions either did not publish a privacy policy on their websites or, when they did, failed to properly state how fixed video-recording devices were operated and managed as required under the Personal Information Protection Act.
There were also cases in which the footage retention period was set to 0 days and the footage was viewed using personal devices such as mobile phones. In other words, the footage was not stored on a separate server. The NHRCK said that numerous cases of noncompliance with relevant laws and Ministry of Health and Welfare guidelines were also found in the 2025 survey.
These problems had been raised before. During on-site inspections of mental healthcare institutions in 2022, the NHRCK also found wide variation in retention periods, from 0 to 90 days, as well as cases of CCTV equipped with audio recording or installed in showers and restrooms, and issued recommendations. However, similar management problems were found in the 2025 survey.
The NHRCK concluded that CCTV operating standards should be made more specific to protect patients’ safety and human rights together, while taking into account the particular circumstances of locked wards and protective rooms. This means setting retention periods so footage can be reviewed when needed, while also strictly managing the scope of recording, viewing permissions, and procedures for access and deletion.
The NHRCK also said it was necessary to establish legally mandated retention periods and ensure the security of video data, taking into account the standard personal information protection guidelines under the Personal Information Protection Act and referring to regulations on operating-room CCTV and CCTV standards in correctional facilities. In particular, because isolation rooms are separate spaces for isolation, it recommended applying stricter standards than those for general wards and retaining footage for at least 90 days.
[email protected] Seo Ji-yoon Reporter