A common estimate used is that made in 2002 where it was estimated[10] that the United Kingdom was monitored by over 4.2 million CCTV cameras, some with a facial recognition capacity, with practically all cities and towns under 24-hour surveillance. However, many have strongly condemned the assumptions behind that estimate, noting that it involved the extrapolation of observation from one 1.5 km long street in Putney, London to the entire population of the UK.[11] In addition, the vast majority of cameras are not operated by the UK Government, but by private companies, especially to monitor the interiors of shops and businesses. According to 2009 Freedom of Information Act requests, the total number of local authority operated CCTV cameras was around 60,000 over the entirety of the UK.[12]
Currently, in the City of Westminster, microphones are being fitted next to CCTV cameras. Westminster council claims that they are simply part of an initiative against urban noise, and will not "be used to snoop", but comments from a council spokesman appear to imply that they have been deliberately designed to capture an audio stream alongside the video stream, rather than simply reporting noise levels.[13]
As of Feb 2010, many larger cities in the UK now have CCTV in which if an operator spots anything illegal or troubling, they are able to speak through the cameras via loudspeaker into the street, and some also have microphones to allow them to hear what the public are saying.
Is it legal to record someone's conversation in a public place ?
ReplyDeleteThe general rule is that people in public places must assume they might be photographed or recorded, particularly if they are officials carrying out their public duties. Therefore, you may photograph, film and record what you can easily see or hear in public places, even if the recorded people have not specifically consented to such, provided you do not harass, trespass or otherwise intrude. This includes shooting footage of a private property from a public sidewalk, as long as you do not engage in overzealous surveillance, such as the offensive use, for example, of a telephoto lens to record intimate activities inside the bedroom or bathroom of a private residence.
ReplyDeleteUnder this general rule, it would seem you have the right to record police in the performance of their public duties. However, courts are divided on this issue; some have upheld the authority of police officers who were the subject of citizen recordings to arrest the party who made the recording and charge him or her with violating the state wiretapping or eavesdropping law’s requirement that all parties to a conversation consent to its recording. See below for more on this consent requirement.
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ReplyDeleteThe issue of security should trouble us and spend the necessary safety measures.
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