Britain is sleepwalking towards a surveillance society because of the proliferation of CCTV cameras, an independent watchdog has warned

Britain is sleepwalking towards a surveillance society because of the proliferation of CCTV cameras, an independent watchdog has warned.

The UK’s surveillance tsar Tony Porter says the nation’s privacy is being increasingly invaded – but many of the cameras are doing nothing to stop crime or keep the public safe.

Mr Porter called for a public debate and greater regulation to ensure cameras ‘do not proliferate unnecessarily’.

He added: ‘We have millions of cameras in this country and Europeans look at us askance that our society actually accepts the volume of cameras we do.

‘You can still maintain the balance of excellent surveillance but not have a propagation that is actually useless.

‘Run well, it’s a useful tool for society. But to quote a former information commissioner, “we should not sleepwalk into a surveillance society”.’

Mr Porter, who is responsible for overseeing about 100,000 publicly-operated CCTV cameras, said it was imperative that local authorities tell the public exactly how many were watching the streets.

The independent surveillance commissioner is also concerned about the rising use of body-worn video, drones and number-plate recognition systems, or ANPR.

Britain has one of the largest CCTV networks in the world. On top of the publicly-operated cameras there are another 6million private and domestic surveillance cameras nationwide.

Mr Porter said some councils have found they were wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds on ineffective cameras.

One, a West Midlands local authority, reviewed its surveillance and saved £250,000 by reducing the number of ineffective cameras.

Meanwhile, Dyfed-Powys Police – which covers more than half of Wales – could stop monitoring CCTV after a review found little evidence the cameras deterred crime or anti-social behaviour.

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The UK’s surveillance tsar Tony Porter says the nation’s privacy is being increasingly invaded – but many of the cameras are doing nothing to stop crime or keep the public safe

Problems include organisations using different CCTV equipment and networks. It means that, for instance, a shoplifter being tracked by council CCTV in a public street is lost when they flee into a shopping centre where the system is privately owned.

Mr Porter also highlighted cases where the quality or format of footage meant it could not be downloaded or used by the police or courts.

Mr Porter, a former senior counter-terrorism officer at the London Olympics, reiterated concerns about the use of drones and body-worn cameras.

Police, housing and environmental health officers, landlords, door supervisors, university security staff and even some supermarket workers are wearing state-of-the-art cameras to capture anti-social behaviour on film.

He said: ‘Technology can support law enforcement and protect society. My concern is about the introduction of poor surveillance that doesn’t benefit society.’

Mr Porter, above, called for a public debate and greater regulation to ensure cameras ‘do not proliferate unnecessarily’

He warned that spiralling levels of surveillance, especially lightweight cameras worn on uniforms, could harm policing by making the public reluctant to talk to officers if they were confronted with cameras. But at the same time, he said, it would be ‘short-sighted’ for local authorities to cut CCTV as part of an austerity drive.

The Local Government Association said town halls consult residents, businesses and police on whether CCTV is appropriate in an area, and operate in accordance with the code of practice.