Tag archive for ‘surveillance’
Parents shun help to keep below social services radar
I was saddened to read this letter, dated 20 August 2007, on the problems being caused by the intrusive, interventionist and illiberal social care policies this government has introduced. Wouldn’t it be better if social workers, teachers, the police, healthcare professionals and others in public service were empowered to build respectful, constructive relationships with their [...]
Cardiff Council Considers CCTV
During the recent local Government elections, the Liberal Democrat candidates for my area campaigned in part on a ticket of installing more CCTV cameras. They didn’t really explain the benefits or trade-offs for the community, but they did claim the proposal was part of their strategy to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. I emailed them [...]
CCTV doesn’t work – let’s fix it!
If you live in the UK you’ll be aware of the pervasiveness of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) systems, which apparently film the average Brit hundreds of times per day (although there are no reliable figures). It turns out this is a pointless exercise. CCTV is rubbish at preventing crime, uneconomical at detecting it, useless at helping [...]
Updated: Shops secretly track customers via mobile phone
Updated @ 2008/05/20 21:40 GMT Spy blog reports it has received more details on the FootPath system from the manufacturer. Their update provides factual corrections to the original story. I have therefore included appropriate updates here too. The Times reports that customers in some shopping centres are being secretly tracked without their knowledge using signals [...]
The RIPA FoI-bles of Cardiff Council
Today is the deadline for Cardiff Council to respond to my Freedom of Information Act request about their use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. Unfortunately my inbox is bare and the question of whether Cardiff is a Clouseau Council remains unanswered. I think that’s probably illegal, but I guess I should be prepared [...]