Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know
CCTV needs a set of standards and a system of licensing that can be enforced by the UK's Information Commissioner, according to a Home Office report which suggests that over 80% of today's CCTV footage is "far from ideal" for police purposes.
A National CCTV Strategy was published this week by the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers.
The strategy report says that "the public feels safer due to the presence of CCTV". It cites a claim that in London, on average, an individual may be recorded by over 300 different cameras in any given day. It also cites a study from 2002 suggesting that there are around 4.2 million cameras across the UK. But the report says that the evidence from police does not suggest such extensive coverage and says that many cameras are located in the wrong places. Quality was also found to be inconsistent.
"The terrorist incidents in London in July 2005 … highlighted the effectiveness of CCTV as an aid to investigation but also identified issues in relation to the lack of integration, quality of images and the difficulties associated in retrieving digitally recorded footage," says the report.
In the days when almost all CCTV footage was recorded to VHS tape, there was compatibility in camera resolutions, their output specifications, transmission standards and recordings. With the emergence of digital CCTV, "the situation has taken a turn for the worse," says the report.
Digital cameras from one manufacturer may not be compatible with others' recording systems. The police and Criminal Justice System struggle to play back footage from the many proprietary recording formats, says the report.
It calls for digital CCTV standards to be agreed among police, the Criminal Justice System and public space CCTV operators. The location and purpose of all the CCTV cameras in public space use should also be reviewed, to detail their purpose and establish if they are fit for purpose, it says. It also calls for a system of registration for CCTV systems.
While the Information Commissioner has produced a Code of Practice for CCTV, the report notes that the Data Protection Act does not require CCTV systems to be registered and the Commissioner has no legal authority to enforce the Code. The Commissioner can only issue enforcement notices where there is a breach of one or more of the Data Protection Act's principles.
The report recommends: "The role of the Information Commissioner needs to include greater powers to enforce licensing requirements of systems and people and needs to be clearer".
It also says that new legislation should be considered "to tighten regulatory deficiencies where these are shown to be a problem." This would include powers to inspect CCTV systems.
The Home Office should also consider "whether or not there is a need for any new legislation to tackle invasion of privacy with regard to both public and private CCTV", describing it as "a grey area".
A Home Office spokesman said: "The strategy recognises that for CCTV to continue to be effective it must have both the support of the public and take account of rapidly changing technology. It highlights the need for improved public accountability, a centralised database of schemes, national training standards for users and a stronger role for the Information Commissioner."
"All the recommendations will be assessed by an expert Programme Board and a proposed plan of action will be submitted to Ministers for consideration.”
