CCTV camera microphones to be axed

cruise4 · 27-01-2008, 05:39 PM

There is something very misleading about this article. Can you spot it?

CCTV camera microphones to be axed

Patrick Hennessy
London Telegraph
Sunday January 27, 2008

Hidden microphones mounted on CCTV cameras which can eavesdrop on private conversations in the street are set to be outlawed, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.

Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, believes that the cameras are a serious breach of civil liberties.

Britain has 4.5million CCTV cameras which capture the average person around 300 times a day.

This week Mr Thomas will launch a new code of practice and declare that no organisation should be able to monitor or store private conversations, claiming that such activities are "highly intrusive".

Whitehall sources said last night that he has the strong backing of ministers. The ruling is also likely to be hailed by civil liberties campaigners.

A spokesman for Mr Thomas said that the use of cameras to record voices would be allowed only in "extremely special circumstances" such as the detection of crime.

Earlier this month, a court heard how a microphone mounted on a CCTV device recorded the groans of father-of-three Mark Witherall, 47, as he was beaten and left to die by raiders after catching them at his house in Whitstable, Kent.

In another case, a microphone on a CCTV camera picked up the screams of a woman and her child who were attacked and abused last year by a would-be arsonist at their home in Lancashire.

Some councils, including Westminster in London, began testing the new cameras last year and more are reported to be keen on using them in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics. Many are fitted with microphones which can "bug" conversations up to 100 yards away.

Read more:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...7/ncctv127.xml

morphix · 27-01-2008, 05:49 PM

I might be missing something but NO where in the actual article does it say that they are being axed, apart from the title.

27-01-2008, 05:39 PM	#1
cruise4 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 6,647	CCTV camera microphones to be axed There is something very misleading about this article. Can you spot it? CCTV camera microphones to be axed Patrick Hennessy London Telegraph Sunday January 27, 2008 Hidden microphones mounted on CCTV cameras which can eavesdrop on private conversations in the street are set to be outlawed, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose. Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, believes that the cameras are a serious breach of civil liberties. Britain has 4.5million CCTV cameras which capture the average person around 300 times a day. This week Mr Thomas will launch a new code of practice and declare that no organisation should be able to monitor or store private conversations, claiming that such activities are "highly intrusive". Whitehall sources said last night that he has the strong backing of ministers. The ruling is also likely to be hailed by civil liberties campaigners. A spokesman for Mr Thomas said that the use of cameras to record voices would be allowed only in "extremely special circumstances" such as the detection of crime. Earlier this month, a court heard how a microphone mounted on a CCTV device recorded the groans of father-of-three Mark Witherall, 47, as he was beaten and left to die by raiders after catching them at his house in Whitstable, Kent. In another case, a microphone on a CCTV camera picked up the screams of a woman and her child who were attacked and abused last year by a would-be arsonist at their home in Lancashire. Some councils, including Westminster in London, began testing the new cameras last year and more are reported to be keen on using them in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics. Many are fitted with microphones which can "bug" conversations up to 100 yards away. Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...7/ncctv127.xml

27-01-2008, 05:49 PM	#2
morphix Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 131	I might be missing something but NO where in the actual article does it say that they are being axed, apart from the title.