By Emily Cadman
In a submission to a House of Lords select committee the BSIA has called on the security industry to take a lead in reassuring the public about measures in place to protect their privacy.
The House of Lords Select Committee for the Constitution is currently looking into the impact that government surveillance and data collection have upon the privacy of citizens and their relationship with the State.
In its submission to the committee, the BSIA argued that CCTV is a vital weapon in the prevention and detection of crime and its use has increased the sense of security felt by individuals.
The BSIA also noticed that whilst it “may be necessary to review common legislation and standards in order to continue to protect the privacy of the public” privacy is protected both through current legislation - such as the Data Protection and Human Rights Acts - industry guidelines and codes of practice.
Pauline Norstrom, BSIA CCTV Section Chairman, commented: “There has been much public debate in recent months about CCTV’s role in what is termed a ‘surveillance society’. The security industry must be at the forefront of not only professing CCTV’s many benefits such as crime prevention and detection, but also in reassuring the public as to the many measures in place to protect their privacy.”
“The security industry must be at the forefront of not only professing CCTV’s many benefits such as crime prevention and detection, but also in reassuring the public as to the many measures in place to protect their privacy”
Pauline Norstrom
She added: “As an industry we must be prepared not only to develop new technologies, but also to consider the effects that such technologies may have on the privacy of the public and to review current legislation and guidelines accordingly.”
The Lords enquiry, which was launched in April, stated purpose is to: “Seek to find out if increased surveillance and data collection by the state have fundamentally altered the way it relates to its citizens.”
Key questions the committee will be looked at include:
• What forms of surveillance and data collection might be considered constitutionally proper or improper? Is there a line that should not be crossed? How could it be identified?
“The broad constitutional implications of these changes have not thus far been sufficiently closely scrutinised”
Lord Holme
• What effect do public and private sector surveillance and data collection have on a citizen’s liberty and privacy?
• How have surveillance and data collection altered the nature of citizenship in the 21st century, especially in terms of citizens’ relationship with the state?
• Is the Data Protection Act sufficient to protect citizens? Is there a need for additional constitutional protection for citizens in relation to surveillance and the collection of data?
Commenting at the start of the enquiry in April, Lord Holme of Cheltenham, Chairman of the Constitution Committee, said: “The nature and extent of surveillance and data collection have changed dramatically in recent years. We now have close to 4.2 million CCTV cameras in the UK and with the introduction of the NHS Spine and the ID card database the government will hold more information about us than ever before.
“The broad constitutional implications of these changes have not thus far been sufficiently closely scrutinised. As a Committee we hope to get to the bottom of how these changes are altering the relationship between individuals and the State, and to ascertain whether necessary protection is in place.”
