Don't Fear The RIPA?

For once Jaqui Smith has shown some good judgement rather than leaving the TV remote control with her husband, although you might accuse her of conflict of interest. At the launch of a Government review of the Regulatory of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), she has called for Councils in England and Wales not to use surveillance powers to target minor offences.

For the avid readers of this blog, you will have spotted that I have mentioned such powers before and some refer to them as a 'Snoopers Charter' as wider powers are due to come in force soon. However, Councils have been accused of using the powers of RIPA to investigate such minor offences as dog-fouling, people putting their bin out on the wrong day and those who fib about their address in order to send their child to a better school.

I assume that Jaqui Smith might also be concerned that someone may actually film how often she actually uses her 'Primary Address' in future.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

We have better (or worse) than 1 camera per 14 people in this country which is more than any other European country. Surveillance is a way of life but we are told the extra cameras in our streets are there to protect us from crimes and terrorism, and we are all for preventing another 7/7. The pity is that we did not, nor the attack at Glasgow Airport - but at least we had bird's eye views after the events.

It is disheartening to know then that Councils are using such powers to catch perpetrators of such minor offences. The problem is that Council people have certain jobs to do like collect money to balance the books so if a camera is handy they'll use it. To the rate payer, it's both comforting to know that these workers care about our money and exasperating at the misuse of crucial resources supposed to stop REAL crime, although as a dog owner, fouling is pretty heinous.

RIPA is meant to regulate the monitoring of emails, phone calls and internet use, covert surveillance, use of informants or undercover agents and access to electronic passwords or encryptions.

Think about this long and hard. Do we really think it is appropriate for anybody OTHER than security forces and police in this country to have the power to access to such personal data? Do we really think that Council workers will respect the privacy of those who are actually found to be committing no offences?

This is not a 'Snoopers Charter', this is downright stupid use of valuable resources. Council workers now have free use of security cameras to catch people parking illegally, using loading zones to stop and pop into the newsagent to get a paper, to drop off an invalide, if they overstay a parking meter, if they park in the wrong area or a wheel touches a line. We must be stark raving mad to let unqualified, often outsourced contractors to be able to redirect cameras for such offences which are merely used to collect more cash.

The issue at stake is more than our privacy. I accept there needs to be a balance between access to our private information and security. But are you seriously telling us that Council workers and similar job functions should have the power to surveil us with such wide ranging powers? Do you seriously think that they can be trusted with such private information? Then again we think Big Brother is entertainment.

As the famous Roman graffiti said (and forgive my translation capabilities), 'Who is watching the watchers'.