KEY POINTS:
The owner of a Hamilton nightclub is defending the use of video cameras in toilets to stop vandalism.
Waikato student Sam Hulton was horrified to discover he had been filmed in the men's toilet of the Bahama Hut bar on Friday night, The Dominion Post reported.
The 21-year-old had been captured pulling down a poster and putting it in the urinal.
Mr Hulton admitted he was drunk and that what he did "wasn't the best", but said he was shocked when two security staff came in to the toilet and dragged him to a back room.
He was then shown footage of himself urinating in the toilet and was asked to identify himself.
"I had no idea I was being filmed," Mr Hulton, a screen and media student, said.
"I pointed out (it) is illegal due to the fact I was urinating in the urinal at the time."
Bahama Hut general manager Simon Batters said the bar had at least four video cameras set up, including one in each of the men's and women's toilets.
He said staff used footage as proof of vandalism.
Warning signs were unnecessary because they did not film patrons actually going to the toilet, he said.
Mr Hulton said he had complained to police in the hope that the incident would not be repeated with other customers.
Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff said personal information, such as video, should be collected only in a way that was open and transparent.
"It would rarely, if ever, be acceptable for CCTV to be in places such as washrooms and locker rooms, where individuals can fairly expect to have privacy," she said.
- NZPA
