Businesses share unblurred surveillance footage despite privacy rules

Several Danish business owners are sharing unblurred surveillance footage of suspected offenders on social media, even though such disclosures are often illegal, DR reports.

At the trading card shop &Cards in Aarhus, a group of men were filmed looking through folders containing Japanese Pokémon cards worth several thousand kroner. While one man spoke to an employee, another allegedly put several cards in his bag.

The shop shared the footage on Facebook without first anonymising the people shown. Co-owner Martin Færch Strømme said the decision was intended to send a message that the shop had had enough.

&Cards has experienced repeated thefts and lost goods worth several hundred thousand kroner. According to Strømme, the latest incident involved cards worth around 70,000 kroner. The shop also offered a reward for information that could help identify those responsible.

&Cards is not alone. Businesses and private individuals are increasingly posting images of break-ins, thefts and vandalism on Facebook, according to Mikkeline Thomsen, a partner at Os og Data, which has mapped 48,000 Danish Facebook groups.

In the past, such incidents were often shared without images or video. The increasing availability of surveillance technology has changed that, Thomsen said.

Sharing footage is often illegal

Businesses are generally not allowed to publish images of people online unless those people are fully anonymised, have consented to the publication, or a legal requirement or contract makes the disclosure lawful.

Birgitte Kofod Olsen, a legal adviser and PhD in data protection, said businesses typically lack a legal basis for sharing surveillance footage of suspected offenders.

She described the increasing publication of such recordings on social media as concerning, saying it can publicly shame people and accuse them of potentially having committed a crime. She said businesses should consider whether the matter should instead be handled by the police.

Strømme said he had no problem publicly identifying the suspected offenders filmed at &Cards.

“I’m not hanging just anyone out. I’m hanging criminals out, and I have no problem with that,” he said.

The shop has not received a fine for sharing the footage, according to Strømme. He said the decision was driven by frustration after the shop had previously reported thefts and break-ins to police without seeing enough action.

“Now we are taking matters into our own hands, or at least helping them along,” he said.

Police response

DR asked East Jutland Police how it views businesses sharing surveillance images and videos of suspected offenders. The police district was also asked whether police could or should do more to investigate cases when business owners feel that little happens after they report thefts.

East Jutland Police said it receives daily reports of shoplifting across the district and acknowledged the frustration business owners can feel after repeated thefts.

The police said it works closely with businesses, including through ongoing dialogue with the Danish Chamber of Commerce, on how to address the challenges posed by shoplifting.

In 2025, East Jutland Police received 3,081 reports of shoplifting and made 2,566 charges in such cases, according to the police district.

The police also said that cases are worked on even when no patrol is sent to the scene, and that charges are subsequently brought in most reported cases.