Today’s news of the head of the Local Government Authority, Sir Simon Milton, writing to all of England’s councils to suggest restraint in the use of surveillance for non-critical issues was, on the surface, another blow to the image of an industry which has felt a little under fire in recent times.
The groundswell of public support that followed the terror attacks of July 2005, and the subsequent rapid capture and arrest of the 21/7 attempted bombers, has seemingly eroded.
And while Sir Simon’s letter and the issues it addressed are not limited to CCTV images – the issue is with using RIPA powers for all forms of ‘surveillance’ – it does raise an important issue for the CCTV industry in the UK, and worldwide.
And that is this: CCTV will always run the risk of having an image problem if the industry itself does not publicly take a stance urging its responsible use.
Manufacturers and representative bodies should step forward and let the public know that they would like to see CCTV used only for important, non-intrusive matters.
The last thing this industry needs is to be lumped in with Government bodies or authority organisations perceived by the public at large to be exploiting surveillance laws or opportunities in order to be finicky, nitpicking, or nosy.
And private industry should also ensure they are not hit when the inevitable backlash against intrusive consumer research and monitoring comes along. It will.
What this requires is a proactive stance calling for genuine standards – not red tape-ridden bureaucratic box-ticking standards, but moral standards – to ensure the CCTV industry can maintain the confidence of the public in the years to come.
