As previewed in the May print issue of Professional Security magazine, the world’s first Surveillance Camera Day will run on Thursday, June 20, Tony Porter, the Surveillance Camera Commissioner, has announced.
The purpose of the day is to raise public awareness about the provision and operation of surveillance cameras and to spark public debate; to inform policy-makers and service providers what are societally acceptable surveillance practices.
Tony Porter is encouraging surveillance camera control centres to ‘throw their doors open’ so that the public can see, first hand, how they operate. A number of surveillance camera operators will be publishing a surveillance camera factsheet, setting out the basic facts of their system, including what it is designed to do, and the number of cameras.
Porter will also be launching a voluntary ‘secure by default’ standard for manufacturers at the IFSEC International annual exhibition at Excel in London Docklands; also trailed in the May issue of Professional Security. On the day, the third and final of the show, manufacturers meeting the new standard will spell out how the default settings of their products are the most secure settings possible. This means they are much less likely to be vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Tony Porter said: “Surveillance Camera Day is a world first. The UK is sometimes referred to as ‘the most surveilled country on the planet’. I want to start a conversation about how surveillance cameras are used, why they’re used and who is using them. Cameras are used to keep people safe but new and emerging technology can lead to greater infringements to our civil liberties. Civil engagement is a key strand of the national surveillance camera strategy and I want people who use cameras to shine a light on what they do – how they’re using cameras to protect communities not spy on them.”
Picture by Mark Rowe; CCTV camera and pole outside Birmingham Town hall.
