A 64-year-old electrician entered the Landi of Volketswil, in the canton of Zurich, to try on some work pants before buying them. It's exactly the kind of purchase you make in ten minutes. But since he has installed hundreds of cameras in his professional life, as soon as he entered the fitting room he saw something that caught his attention: a 360-degree surveillance camera, placed just above the only fitting room booth that the premises has.
What bothered him the most is not that the camera exists, but where it is placed. A 360-degree camera can technically block the fitting room area, yes, but you don't see that from the outside. He explained it himself: in a fitting room you change your clothes, and even if you don't get completely naked, you can end up in underwear. The feeling of being watched at that moment is hardly comfortable, regardless of the technical guarantees given by the company.
Landi responded that the cabin area is “technically blackened” and that customers' privacy is guaranteed. The federal data protection agency (EDÖB) had already clarified, in a similar case with H&M two years ago, that cameras near fitting rooms are legal if they do not capture the entire area and there is visible signage. All compliant, in principle. But the electrician pointed out something quite reasonable: the camera could be perfectly five meters away. That no one has explained why it's right there is the kind of silence that says more than any company statement.