Listening CCTV trial ends

Published on 29 Feb 2008

A trial of 'listening' CCTV has ended in the Borough of Westminster and will not be introduced permenantly after objections from privacy campaigners and the Information Comissioners Office (ICO).

A spokesman for the council said:

"We tried the audio system but have decided not to proceed further the trial was for evaluation purposes to review the technology, and no further uses are planned."

In a recent survey comissioned by the ICO seven out of ten respondents were against the use of 'listening' CCTV. The results were backed up by a similar survey in Scotland that showed 72% of people were against the tehnology.

Ken Macdonald, assistant commissioner for Scotland at the ICO, said:

"There are many benefits to using CCTV - such as helping with the detection of crime - and we know that CCTV enjoys a great deal of public support. However, there is the potential for CCTV systems to be extremely intrusive."
"Technological advances mean that cameras can record individuals' conversations, but we see this as an unacceptable invasion of privacy," he said.