Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Toilet cam: Otumoetai College bathroom cameras spark concerns

NZ Herald
20 Sep, 2020 06:26 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

CCTV cameras have been active in Otumoetai College's bathrooms for 20 months. Photo / File

CCTV cameras have been active in Otumoetai College's bathrooms for 20 months. Photo / File

A Bay of Plenty college is the latest secondary school to spark concerns over security cameras in or outside student toilets.

A mum of two girls at the school was appalled to discover Otumoetai College had installed wall-mounted cameras inside student toilets. The woman, who does not want to be named, has told the school her daughters will not be using the toilets until they are taken down.

She claims the spherical cameras are high on bathroom walls, capturing vision from inside the cubicles.

But the school says the cameras are only in the public areas of the toilets to ensure the individual safety and security of its students.

The woman said she thought her daughter was mistaken when she said the school had placed cameras inside the bathrooms.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It took a photo to convince her they were real and her daughter wasn't making up the story.

"I really thought my girl had got it wrong when she told me there were cameras in the girls' toilets.

"I honestly didn't think schools could do that. And we hadn't been told."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

After seeing photographic proof of the camera, she contacted a dean at the school to raise concerns but claims she was told "not to be ridiculous" and "that's not what we do".

However, the principal confirmed to the horrified mum that cameras were installed throughout the school last year after a decision by the board of trustees.

She was told they were meant to counter a graffiti problem in the bathrooms and only two people had access to the footage: himself and the person in charge of IT.

The principal tried to reassure the mother the pupils' privacy was not at stake with vision down into the cubicles blacked out, she said.

"I don't want to even think of my daughter using the toilet and someone being able to watch her.

"That's just disgusting.

"I told the school my daughters will not be using the toilets, ever," she said.

"It's completely inappropriate that they've done it," she said.

She believed parents should have been notified.

Other parents she had contacted were also outraged. But Otumoetai College principal Russell Gordon told the Herald the cameras had been installed for about 20 months and only showed the wash bay areas and did not capture any vision inside cubicles.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The reason for these cameras are to ensure the individual safety and security of our students," he said.

Prominent notices indicatedthe presence of cameras in the toilets and the school had clear policy guidelines about storage and access to the information collected.

Gordon said he had only received one complaint from a parent concerned about the placement of a camera, but it only showed students entering and exiting the toilets and did not capture any vision inside cubicles, he said.

Last week, the Herald reported students at Rutherford College ripped down a CCTV camera outside the boys' bathrooms because they were worried it might capture them exposed.

The school defended the cameras, saying they were there to protect students and record any incidents that took place.

READ MORE:
• Auckland Council pulls plug on costly combined CCTV camera network
• Premium - CCTV nation: New Zealand's rapidly expanding camera network explained
• Say cheese: CCTV cameras installed in Te Awamutu
• Students rip down 'covert' camera outside boys' toilet

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings

Bay of Plenty Times

Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation

Bay of Plenty Times

'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings
Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings

An almost identical case occurred two months after Malachi's death, the doctor said.

16 Jul 05:15 AM
Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation
Bay of Plenty Times

Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation

15 Jul 10:57 PM
'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough
Bay of Plenty Times

'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough

15 Jul 09:44 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP