Archive: CCTV… but its not watching you!

1 November 2011

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Category: News

1 November 2011, Comments: 0

A council spokesman said: “Over recent months, the council has been undertaking a full stock-take of the 1,000 security cameras it operates across the city to assess whether they are fit for purpose and meet modern standards.“Of this number there are 100 cameras covering public spaces – with the primary purpose of protecting public safety. At the current time 18 of these cameras are not in operation.“The council plans to invest in bringing all public space cameras still required up to date and to ensure they are properly maintained. This work will be completed within six months. To provide public reassurance following the recent incident on Wellbeck Road, we will be installing a temporary re-deployable camera on this site within 24 hours.”
Read More http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2011/10/31/18-cctv-cameras-in-newcastle-turned-off-72703-29692265/2/#sitelife-commentsWidget-bottom#ixzz1cRfPMcxp

CameraWatch View

This is a disgraceful situation and shatters the confidence of CCTV that the industry has spent huge resources building up.

How on earth can this happen if the CCTV system is compliant with the law? Data Protection requires CCTV systems to have correct and fundamental procedures which are fully documented. It also requires that the system is fit for purpose.

This incident raises huge questions on the legality of the system - CameraWatch would suggest that the first thing they do is to have the complete system fully and independently assessed. CameraWatch shudders to think what other issues will be raised – but at least it will identify further shorfalls and allow them to remove them.

For someone to have taken a decision to switch off 18 cameras for months shows a total disregard to the law of the land. It is quite unbelievable.

Archive: CCTV... but its not watching you!

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