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26/01/2015
Govt Surveillance Commissioner Calls For CCTV Review
The government's surveillance camera commissioner has called on councils to review the number of CCTV cameras they have and how effective they are.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Tony Porter said that too many of the CCTV cameras are "useless". He added that, currently, the public did not have a true understanding of the nature of surveillance.
There are estimated to be between four to six million CCTV cameras in the UK, one of the largest number of surveillance cameras in the world.
Mr Porter said: "You can still maintain the balance of excellent surveillance but not have a propagation of surveillance that is actually useless.
"Surveillance can be an extremely good thing and run well, it's a useful tool for society.
"But to quote a former information commissioner, 'we should not sleepwalk into a surveillance society'."
(MH/JP)
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Tony Porter said that too many of the CCTV cameras are "useless". He added that, currently, the public did not have a true understanding of the nature of surveillance.
There are estimated to be between four to six million CCTV cameras in the UK, one of the largest number of surveillance cameras in the world.
Mr Porter said: "You can still maintain the balance of excellent surveillance but not have a propagation of surveillance that is actually useless.
"Surveillance can be an extremely good thing and run well, it's a useful tool for society.
"But to quote a former information commissioner, 'we should not sleepwalk into a surveillance society'."
(MH/JP)
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