Watchdog has eye on surveillance cameras

Date: 27/02/03

A GROUP of EU data privacy watchdogs is investigating the ever-growing use of video surveillance cameras across the Union which citizens' rights campaigners claim is leading to a "Big Brother" society.

The powerful body of national data commissioners said the first step for dealing with this would be an online survey of citizens and interest groups.

The investigation could lead to tough guidelines on applying strict EU data privacy law to ensure local authorities, companies and security firms are not overstepping the mark, they say.

The "article 29 working party" - named after the part of the data protection directive that set it up - made headlines recently when it forced Microsoft to make changes to key e-commerce software.

This followed fears that customers' personal details would be distributed across the internet without their control.

A group of EU data privacy watchdogs is investigating the ever-growing use of video surveillance cameras across the European Union which citizens' rights campaigners claim is leading to a 'Big Brother' society.