June 30th, 2010 by Timothy Pitt-Payne QC
The Coalition’s Programme for Government contains a great deal that is of interest to information lawyers: see here. But when and how will any of this be given legislative effect?
The Queen’s Speech was delivered on 25th May 2010. The website of the Prime Minister’s office gives a list of the proposed Bills , with further information about each one. Three of the proposed Bills have potential implications for information law.
(i) The Public Bodies (Reform) Bill will enhance the transparency and accountability of quangos: though it is not clear as yet whether enhanced information access rights will play a role in this.
(ii) The Decentralisation and Localism Bill will (among other matters) require public bodies to publish online the job titles of every member of staff and the salaries and expenses of senior officials.
(iii) The Freedom (Great Repeal) Bill is intended to cover a wide range of subjects, to be announced in due course: it may include an extension to the scope of FOIA, and also various provisions in relation privacy (e.g. relating to CCTV cameras, and the DNA database).
Of these Bills, it is the third that is likely to be much the most significant.
Tags: CCTV, data protection, database, DNA, FOIA, local authority, privacy
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May 12th, 2010 by Timothy Pitt-Payne QC
The Conservative/Lib Dem coalition agreements are available here. Under the heading “Civil Liberties” there are a number of points that should interest readers of this blog. These include:
* the scrapping of the ID cards scheme, the National Identity Register, the next generation of biometric passports and the Contact Point database;
* outlawing the fingerprinting of children at school without parental permission;
* extending FOIA to provide greater transparency;
* adopting the Scottish model for the DNA database;
* further regulation of CCTV; and
* ending the storage of internet and email records without good reason.
Taken together these suggest that information law issues will continue to be centre stage in political terms.
Tags: Add new tag, CCTV, FOIA, privacy
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May 18th, 2009 by Anya Proops
A Home Office funded review on the effectiveness of CCTV cameras in the fight against crime has found that it has only a ‘modest impact on crime’. The review, undertaken by the Campbell Collaboration found that the use of CCTV was not effective in cutting vehicle crime in car parks, especially when used alongside improved lighting and the introduction of security guards. The review’s conclusions are likely to prompt further debate not only on the cost effectiveness of using CCTV as a weapon to cut crime (CCTV is now the single most heavily funded crime prevention measure operating outside the criminal justice system) but also on whether the pervasive use of CCTV within our society can be justified, particularly given its potential to interfere with the right to privacy. Notably, The Home Office cited the review in the context of its response to the House of Lords Comittee on the Constitution Inquiry into ‘Surveillance: Citizens and the State’ (and see my earlier post on the Committee’s report). In its response, the Home Office stated that: ‘In reviewing existing policies and processes, the Government will seek to ensure that due consideration is given to the following key principles: Are robust safeguards in place to protect the information and indiviudal liberties? Are our plans and actions proportionate to the damage and the threat they are seeking to prevent? Are we being as transparent as possible? Are citizens being given the right amount of choice?‘ The Home Office’s response should be read in conjunction with the Information Commissioner’s response to the Committee’s report which was published in 15 April 2009.
Tags: CCTV, data protection, privacy, surveillance
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March 30th, 2009 by Anya Proops
The use of CCTV cameras by local authorities has long been a controversial subject. Civil liberties groups regard the proliferation of such cameras as an unjustified infringement of the right to privacy. Others regard the use of such cameras as a necessary and, hence, justified evil in the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour. However, recent guidelines issued by the Department for Transport (DfT) has raised altogether different questions about the legality of local authority CCTV systems. In particular, DfT published guidelines last week confirming that, with effect from 1 April 2009, Westminster council’s mobile CCTV cameras would be rendered unlawful because they lack a sufficient number of pixels to meet the new quality requirements imposed under the Traffic Management Act 2004 (TMA). The DfT has confirmed that the cameras must be switched off by midnight on 31 March in order to avoid falling foul of new TMA provisions, which come into force on 1 April. This is an untimely development for those law enforcement agencies which were hoping to use the mobile cameras as part of the security strategy to manage the G20 summit. It is understood that Westminster Council has now written to the Transport Secretary, Geoff Hoon, as a matter of urgency requesting a special dispensation so that the cameras will not have to go dark on the eve of the summit.
Articles:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/30/cctv-london-government-transport-g20
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7971436.stm
Tags: CCTV, local authority, surveillance
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