Canadian cameras

[George at Orwellian.Org]

#    SCAN THIS NEWS
#    7.20.2001
#    
#    ------------------------
#    
#    Security Cameras In Banks,
#    Private Business Ruled
#    Illegal In Canada
#    By Jen Ross
#    The Ottawa Citizen
#    7-18-1
#    
#    http://www.ottawacitizen.com/national/010717/5007180.html
#    http://www.rense.com/general12/sec.htm
#    
#    Big Brother may want to watch you, but you are legally entitled 
#    to flick the off switch.
#    
#    That is the implication of the Personal Information Protection 
#    and Electronic Documents Act (PIPED), which makes it illegal 
#    for any private company to collect personal information on an 
#    individual without their expressed consent or a warrant.
#    
#    "I could walk into a bank and ask them to turn off the camera 
#    because it violates my privacy rights," said Peter Mantas, a 
#    technology lawyer in Ottawa for law firm Heenan and Blaikie.
#    
#    "That would certainly put them in a huff ... (but) it would be 
#    against the law for the bank manager to decline."
#    
#    People can also request that a security camera in a convenience 
#    store be turned off while they are in the premises.
#    
#    Last month, in the first decision under the act, which came into 
#    effect Jan. 1, federal Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski 
#    told a Yellowknife security company the installation of street 
#    surveillance cameras is unlawful.
#    
#    "People have the right to go about their business without feeling 
#    that their actions are being systematically observed and 
#    monitored," said Mr. Radwanski.
#    
#    The privacy commissioner has since launched an investigation 
#    into the issue of video surveillance monitoring and will not 
#    comment on particular cases until that investigation is completed.
#    
#    Mr. Mantas says the act has broader implications for workplace 
#    surveillance of employees and for the use of video for consumer 
#    profiling than have yet to be realized. Moreover, although the 
#    act would allow a security video to be handed over to police 
#    if it showed evidence of criminal activity, in theory, if you 
#    can shut off the bank camera and then commit a robbery, there 
#    would be no proof to hand over.
#    
#    "It means a lot because it's going to compromise investigations," 
#    said Sgt. Loretta Ronchin, of the Greater Sudbury Police Service. 
#    "I'm going to be really interested to see what happens."
#    
#    Sudbury became the first Canadian city to use closed-circuit 
#    television monitoring of public streets in 1996. Sgt. Ronchin 
#    says in the five years since their "lion's eye in the sky" was 
#    introduced, there has been a 38-per-cent reduction in robberies 
#    and assaults. They have five cameras that feed into the Sudbury 
#    police station.
#    
#    London, Ont., Winnipeg and Toronto also opted for such systems 
#    and various cities, including Calgary and Kelowna, are currently 
#    looking to install cameras in public areas.
#    
#    But Mr. Mantas suspects the PIPED Act may not be applied to street 
#    monitoring done directly by police because the act covers private 
#    organizations. Government bodies are covered by their own laws, 
#    which Mr. Mantas characterized as much more relaxed.
#    
#    "I think it's quite troubling," said Mr. Mantas, of the 
#    public-private divide. "Are we to see a situation where people's 
#    privacy is being enhanced
#    
#    in the private sector, but it is being less protected at the 
#    level of the state?"
#    
#    Mr. Radwanski ruled that both live and recorded video pictures 
#    qualify as "personal information" under the act. However, he 
#    did acknowledge there may be instances where it is appropriate 
#    for public places to be monitored for public safety reasons, 
#    but that such surveillance must be limited to instances where 
#    there is a demonstrated need.
#    
#    "I would think that the invasion of privacy is dwarfed by the 
#    crime prevention that video provides," said Steve Kelly, spokesman 
#    for the Canadian Alarm and Security Association. "If you don't 
#    have anything to hide, why should you be upset with someone taking 
#    your picture?"