I received the following message, which I have anonymised in order to get some serious advice and opinion about this proposal for the person who sent it to me. This is partly a question about British law, and partly about the ethics of surveillance in an educational setting.

In addition, for our research interests, are there any other examples of this kind of scheme that listmembers are aware of, and how might the British situation compare to other countries?

Message follows:

I am asking on behalf of [Organisation X] for some general information about surveillance in a college. This college [somewhere in the UK] wants to use cameras in order to check the students behaviour, which will be evaluated. Depending on their manners the students get marks. The question is now, whether this kind of surveillance is legal. Could the college let the students sign a contract to opt-out? If the cameras were installed in order to stop crime, would this be legal?

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