Weekly newsletter

The Coalition Government and Civil Liberties: One Year On

This week, Big Brother Watch released a research paper outlining the progress the Coalition Government has made on civil liberties issues during its first year in office.

The excellent Matthew Barrett of ConservativeHome summed up the conclusions of the research paper as follows:

• The promise to reduce the 28-day detention limit to 14 days has been kept
• The promise to abolish ID cards has been kept, although they remain in place for foreign nationals
• ContactPoint, the database that held information on all children under 18 was turned off in August last year
• However, the Coalition has retained biometric identity cards for non-EU citizens
• The Protection of Freedoms Bill, published in February made some progress towards deleting the DNA of people arrest for a crime but never charged.
• The Protection of Freedoms Bill contained plans to remove stop and search powers granted by the Terrorism Act 2000, but further progress needs to be made
• Control Orders have been replaced with Terrorism  Prevention and Investigation Measures, which are only a mild, incremental improvement
• The government kept its promise to ban the use of powers given by the Investigation of Regulatory Powers Act, the law that gives council officers the ability to arbitrarily demand entry into private homes
• The government has continued the Intercept Modernisation Programme, which allows the government to crack phones and store emails
• The Summary Care Record, the NHS record database, is being continued by the government, despite both Coalition parties pledging to scrap it
• CCTV usage has grown, despite research showing it has no effect on crime

Click here to download a full copy of the report

Blogs of the Week

Police 'Geotime' software to track suspect movements

A report published by the Daily Mail this morning has highlighted the fact the Metropolitan Police have ordered a software package called 'Geotime' – "a security programme used by the U.S. military which tracks suspects' movements and communications and displays them on a three-dimensional graphic".

Devon and Cornwall Police may be forced to reveal locations of ANPR cameras

Devon and Cornwall police are fighting to keep the locations of their fleet of Automatic Number Plate Recognition a closely guarded secret, despite a landmark ruling demanding they release the information within 35 days. Senior officers have used the excuse that exposing the information would put the public “at risk” and affect investigations into organised crime.

Canadian company develop new flying CCTV camera

What looks like the ultimate playground toy could end up being the future of CCTV and surveillance in general. The Daily Mail reports that a new “flying robot intelligence system” dubbed the Aeryon Scout has been developed by Canada-based Aeryon. It has a top speed of 30mph, a maximum altitude of 500ft and the ability to zoom in to a close-up from an astounding 300metres away. It is also incredibly simple to use. By pointing to a place on Google Maps with the touch-screen controller, the robot instantly flies there to record high quality video.

Davis alleges criminal misuse of CCTV cameras by government and police

David Davis has alleged that the Home Office and Metropolitan Police may have broken the law while using security camera images. The claim was made during Home Office questions in the House of Commons.

He described an event around 12 months ago when he was tipped off that the Whitehall department along with the Met had misused CCTV and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras in an illegal manner.

Controversial set of CCTV cameras to be removed from Birmingham districts

After a long-running campaign, a controversial set of CCTV cameras are finally being removed from Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath in Birmingham. The regions are predominantly Muslim, and local residents had been fiercely opposed to the system. Many wondered why two medium-sized districts in Birmingham required 218 cameras, including 169 advanced Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras which monitor the movement of vehicles.

Media Coverage 

Daniel Hamilton on BRMB Radio discussing the removal of CCTV cameras in Birmingham which were erected during Project Champion.

Daniel Hamilton on BBC Hereford and Worcestershire discussing West Mercia Police's breaches of the Data Protection Act.

The Independent – Controversial surveillance cameras to be removed

Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch, said today: "While we are delighted these cameras are being removed, this expensive and oppressive waste of time should never have been given the go-ahead.

"Vital civil liberties and any basic concept of privacy were both disregarded by this scheme.

"These cameras were totally unnecessary for anti-terror or anti-crime purposes and only served to alienate Muslim residents.

"Public trust in the police has been significantly undermined and will take years to rebuild." 

Daily Mail – Privacy storm after police buy software that maps suspects' digital movements

Daniel Hamilton, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said he was concerned about the use of such invasive software for everyday police work.

'The police's decision to adopt technology designed for theatres of war in order to track members of the public is deeply concerning,' he said.

'The ability to build up such a comprehensive record of any person's movements represents a significant threat to personal privacy.

'The Metropolitan Police must reassure the public that this technology will be used in only the most serious of cases, not as everyday crime-fighting tool.' 

Wales Online – Most councils reject bid to adopt compulsory recycling

Daniel Hamilton. director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch said: “It’s astonishing to think that a local council could adopt such heavy-handed tactics.

“Bureaucrats everywhere are using the environment as an excuse to intrude on our lives and increase council revenue.”

Wirral Globe – Wirral's spy car parking fines 'are legal'

Research by Big Brother Watch – a campaign group fighting intrusions on privacy and freedom – showed that £88,350 was raised through issuing fixed penalty notices and £3,078 from fines for parking contraventions in the borough. 

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