Big Brother Britain, 2004
Four million CCTV cameras watch public. UK has the highest level of
surveillance
By Maxine Frith, Social Affairs Correspondent
12 January 2004
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=480364
The Independent
More than four million surveillance cameras monitor our every move, making
Britain the most-watched nation in the world, research has revealed.
The number of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras has quadrupled in the
past three years, and there is now one for every 14 people in the UK. The
increase is happening at twice the predicted rate, and it is believed that
Britain accounts for one-fifth of all CCTV cameras worldwide. Estimates
suggest that residents of a city such as London can each expect to be
captured on CCTV cameras up to 300 times a day, and much of the filming
breaches existing data guidelines.
Civil liberties groups complain that the rules governing the use of the
cameras in Britain are the most lax in the world. They say that, in contrast
to other countries, members of the public are often unaware they are being
filmed, and are usually ignorant of the relevant regulations. They also
argue that there is little evidence to support the contention that CCTV
cameras lead to a reduction in crime rates.
Barry Hugill, a spokesman for the human rights and civil liberties
organisation Liberty, said: "This proliferation of cameras is simply
astounding. The use of CCTV has just exploded in the last few years, and
what is terrifying is that we are alone in the world for not even having a
debate about what it means for our privacy."
Professor Clive Norris, deputy director of the Centre for Criminological
Research in Sheffield, presented the new research at an international
conference on CCTV at Sheffield Universityon Saturday.
Professor Norris conducted a study in 2001 which predicted that the number
of cameras would double from one million to two million by 2004. But his
most recent study concludes that there are now "at least" 4,285,000 cameras
in operation - double his earlier prediction.
There are no official government figures for the number of CCTV systems in
Britain, but Professor Norris used a detailed study of surveillance cameras
in London to calculate his figure.
The research formed part of a European-wide URBANEYE project on the use of
CCTV.
Professor Norris said: "We are the most-watched nation in the world. One of
the surprising findings was how much more control there is in other
countries, such as America and France, compared to Britain.
"Other countries have been much more wary about CCTV, because of long-held
concepts such as freedom of expression and assembly. These seem to be alien
concepts in here."
The use of cameras to film people in the street is banned in Germany, Canada
and several other countries. But it is accepted practice in Britain, which
is alone in not having a privacy law that protects people against constant
surveillance. The Data Protection Act states that the public has to be
informed that CCTV systems are in operation, and be told how they can
exercise their legal right to see their own footage. But civil rights groups
said many councils, shops and businesses were failing to provide this
information, and they estimated that up to 70 per of CCTVcamera operators
were breaking the rules.
Some shopping-centre security guards use the cameras to track "socially
undesirable" people, such as groups of teenage boys or rough sleepers,
around stores, and then eject them even if they have done nothing wrong.
Professor Norris warned: "The use of these practices represents a shift from
formal and legally regulated measures of crime control towards private and
unaccountable justice."
Footage from the cameras has also been passed to newspapers and television
companies without people's permission. Professor Norris said: "CCTV is
generally seen as benign rather than as Big Brother-style surveillance.
"We need to have a much wider debate about exactly what CCTV is doing in
terms of our privacy and our society.
"It is about much more than crime. It enables people to be tracked and
monitored and harassed and socially excluded on the basis that they do not
fit into the category of people that a council or shopping centre wants to
see in a public space."
Over the past decade, the Home Office has handed out millions of pounds in
grants to police forces and councils to install CCTV systems in the belief
it will reduce and prevent crime. But Mr Hugill said: "All that CCTV does is
shift the crime to another area for a bit, and then it returns. If you asked
most people, they would rather see the Government spending the money on more
police officers than on installing cameras, which do not appear to make much
difference anyway."

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