UK - Almost all CCTV systems are illegal, says expert

Slightly worrying!!!! full story here

The UK is well known for its widespread adoption of CCTV technology but a CCTV compliance consultancy has recently warned that the vast majority are operating illegaly, calling into question the validity and legality of the information they collect.

Bernie Brooks of CCTV compliance consultancy DatPro, reported by Outlaw.com radio, stated "From my own my experience after personally surveying many, many hundreds of buildings, I would say probably less than five per cent are compliant," said Brooks. "I would say that 95 per cent are non-compliant in one way, shape, form or another with the [Data Protection] Act. Obviously, that's quite a worrying thing. If the system is non-compliant it could invalidate the usefulness of the evidence in a court of law."

Brooks's assessment matches that of non-profit CCTV awareness raising body Camerawatch. It said in June that its research showed that over 90 per cent of the UK's 4.2 million CCTV systems were not compliant with the Data Protection Act.

"That has profound implications for the reputation of the CCTV and camera surveillance industry and all concerned with it," said Camerawatch chairman Gordon Ferrie in June.
The news follows the revelation last week that London's dense network of CCTV cameras may not have an effect on the solving of crimes. An analysis of London's 10,000 cameras showed that boroughs with many cameras had no better crime-solving statistics than those with few cameras.