22
Apr
2016
By Calvin at 09:07 GMT, 7 years ago
A few months ago on this page I highlighted the fact that very soon a domestically installed CCTV camera system would have to be registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if the system was capturing images beyond the boundaries of the property, i.e. neighbour’s garden, public footpaths and roads etc. This means that most domestic CCTV systems will have to be registered. This change in the law followed a ruling by the European Court of Justice and was forced upon the UK government who prior to the ruling had no intention of registering domestic CCTV installed for crime prevention purposes.
This requirement for registration has now come into being, but disappointingly the ICO has decided to charge applicants £35 per year for that registration.
In addition, details of households that register their CCTV system will appear on a searchable Public Register. See https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/cctv
Brian Walters from the Hillingdon Neighbourhood Watch Association (West London) who has been instrumental in organising a network of domestic CCTV designed to help the police catch offenders is understandably outraged (so am I) at the prospect of law-abiding citizens having to pay the government to help the police prevent and solve crime. Brian tells me that over 100 suspects have been captured across the Borough during the past five years as a direct result of information recorded by residents’ CCTV cameras.
So, rather than accept this crazy situation, Brian has started up an online petition to gain your support and force the government to debate the issue in parliament and hopefully agree to drop the fee. I might add that at a recent London neighbourhood watch meeting, organised by the police, the delegates were unanimous in their support for Brian’s petition.
If you agree with me and Brian that the principle of charging a fee and having to register a domestic CCTV system is simply wrong please sign the petition using the link below:
Also, please ask your friends, relatives and neighbours to do the same thing and I urge you to copy this information onto your neighbourhood watch websites and Tweet about it so we can spread the word effectively.
SIGN THE PETITION HERE: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/122236
