Professor Ross Anderson from the University of Cambridge told MPs today that while CCTV is effective in car parks, evidence shows that it doesn’t help to cut crime in town centres.
Professor Anderson, speaking to tthe Home Affairs Select Committee, also claimed that the government’s ‘Communities that Care’ scheme had been subjected to lobbying by the CCTV industry. He said that organisations would “offer money for a project, as long as it involves CCTV.”
CCTV is consistently popular with many members of the public, who believe that it enhances safety.
A written statement was supplied to the committee by the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), which Anderson Chairs. The document suggests that as a side-effect of the government’s reliance on CCTV, the Communities that Care initiative has been ‘much less effective than the US pilots on which it was based’.
The committee meeting also gave rise to concerns over equality in terms of access to CCTV footage. According to the FIPR, “it is much easier for the police to get access to CCTV images to prove guilt than it is for a citizen to get access to CCTV images to establish an alibi.”
Karen Buck, the Labour MP for Regent’s Park and Kensington North, asked the Professor what it might take for politicians to damage the public consciousness.
In response, Anderson warned MPs that if infringements to privacy continue slowly over a long time “there may be a few grumbles”. However, he continued, “If you get a series of shocks all at once, that may change.” It seems sensible to suggest that the government’s plans for ID cards, the NHS database, and the retention of communications traffic data may well offer those shocks.
The FIPR’s written evidence to the committee also branded the Freedom of Information Act inadequate, stating that constant pressure on the government to retain data is slowly eroding its effectiveness. The organisation argue that banks should supply customers with CCTV footage from ATMs under the Act to allow them to dispute transactions.
Professor Anderson also disputed the effectiveness of the term ‘identity theft’ which is now so engrained on the public consciousness. He argued that ten years ago, pretending to be someone else to get money from their bank would be classed as ‘impersonation’. He thinks the new term ‘identity theft’ suggests that it is his identity, rather than the bank’s money that has been stolen. This, he believes, suits the Home Office as it promotes ID cards, and the banks as it ‘dumps fraud liability on customers’.
In 2006, the UK’s CCTV market was worth GB pound 1089 million, and is expected to grow year on year until 2011.
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