At the end of 2011, Big Brother Watch brought you news of Newham Council’s efforts to introduce a register of every visitor to some tower blocks in the borough. The Sun dubbed it the ‘sex snoop’ list.
Now Aberdeen Council has gone one step further and introduced a video system that gives staff first sight of every visitor to properties.
Previously – as is the case in countless properties across the country – the system connected the person at the door with the property they were trying to enter, and the person inside was able to speak to the person outside and, if they wished, remotely open the door. The current system was only installed in November 2010 and still works.
Aberdeen Council has now written to residents informing them that they are going to change the system so it is a council operator who controls access – and gets to see who is visiting you – from a central ‘control room.’
The letter to residents of Marischal Court and Greig Court reads:
“When a non-resident calls your flat from the entrance, the call would be diverted to a centralised control room, where we will also monitor the current CCTV cameras in your building 24 hours a day. A member of staff from the control room would contact you directly and ask if you agreed to the non-resident being allowed access to the building.”
This kind of invasion of privacy will do nothing to improve safety, and introduces a needless level of interference with visitors. It’s yet another local authority policy that owes more to East Berlin than a Western democracy.
Why should a council official be able to see the visitors to your flat before you do? It’s no business who you have into your own property and the last thing residents should have to put up with is a council official scrutinising everyone they invite round for a cup of tea.
We’ve now written to the council asking what discussions or assessments took place to ensure residents privacy was protected, and that residents should not be forced to use the new system until these serious concerns have been addressed.