Can a neighbor record the owners’ meeting of his/her account?
Yes, it is possible to record the owners’ meeting.
Although the law does not expressly provide for this, it does not prohibit it either. There is therefore nothing to prevent a meeting of co-owners being recorded on a medium that includes images and sound.
What is important in these cases is thesubsequent use of the recording, as it contains the personal data (voice and image) of the neighbours. See how to act in these situations.
Purpose and use of the recording of the meeting of the owners' meeting
The Meeting must be informed of the recording
If, as administrator, a neighbour asks you to record the meeting, or even if you yourself consider it necessary to support the subsequent drafting of the minutes, inform the Meeting of Owners and obtain their consent:
- Indicate that the only purpose of the recording is to document what happened during the meeting.
Include this item on the agenda to be voted on at the beginning of the meeting.
- A positive vote of the majority of those present (not counting the owners represented by proxy, whose rights are not affected) will suffice.
With this positive vote you will ensure that all those present are informed as the meeting will be recorded.
In addition, you will have given those who do not agree the opportunity to vote against, thus preventing them from later contesting the meeting or complaining about not having been able to express their opinion on this fact.
Processing of personal data
Place the sound or image recording devices in a visible place and keep the file with the appropriate security measures, as you do with files containing personal data (the device – USB, DVD, removable disk, etc. – kept under lock and key and the file protected with a password).
Under no circumstances may the recording of the owners’ meeting be used for any purpose other than that for which it was intended (to serve as a support for drawing up the minutes) or to disseminate its content.
The rest of the neighbours may not have access to it, unless this is required in the context of legal proceedings.
Without agreement of the meeting
Notwithstanding the above, given that the law does not address the issue, it can be understood that you could still record the meeting even if the resolution was not passed by the majority indicated above.
Data protection regulations (which require consent – the resolution in this case) indicate that consent is not essential when the recording is necessary for the fulfilment of a legal obligation (the duty to transcribe what happened at the meeting in the minutes) by the data controller (you, as administrator).
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Leer másWhat if a neighbour records the owners' meeting?
Consent.
If a neighbour decides on his own initiative to record the meeting with a mobile phone or recorder, he should be aware that he cannot be prohibited from doing so either, regardless of whether he makes this clear or whether he does it on the sly and is discovered.
In this regard, the courts consider the following:
- It is lawful to record a private conversation between several persons by whoever is a party to it, whether the interlocutors know that they are being recorded or whether they are unaware of it.
What you may not do is record other people’s conversations.
- By doing so with your own means, you are not using or manipulating common elements.
However, the installation of a camera in the common room, for example, could be prohibited.
- However, the neighbour would have to make legitimate use of the recording (e.g. check it against the content of the minutes of the meeting).
The rest of the neighbours could complain if he/she misuses it (e.g. disseminating the images outside the community on their social networks, making vexatious or offensive comments…).
It is advisable to seek the consent of the owners before recording community meetings. If a neighbour does it by his own means, he cannot be prohibited from doing so, but he can be sued for the illegitimate use he makes of the recording.
Patrick Gordinne Perez
Graduate in Economics from the University of Alicante.
