Daily Mail | CCTV cameras are being fitted inside family homes by council ’snoopers’ to spy on neighbours in the street outside, it was revealed today.The £1,000 security cameras have been placed inside properties but are trained on the streets to gather evidence of anti-social behaviour.
Each device is linked to a laptop computer and accessible online by police and council officials 24 hours a day.
But the trial inside two homes by Croydon council in south London has sparked new fears about invasion of privacy and Britain’s ‘surveillance society’.
And critics said the extra surveillance was only needed because police had failed to tackle the problem.
A council spokesman said the cameras would allow the authorities to respond quickly to anti-social behaviour and gather evidence for criminal prosecutions.
Charles Farrier, of the campaign group No-CCTV, said: 'There is no evidence they act as a deterrent and we should be concentrating on the root problem anyway and working to gel our communities.'
Simon Davies, of Privacy International, said: 'Unless the public are aware of where these cameras are, I believe this council should be taken to court for a breach of human rights.'
Critics say the scheme has echoes of the East German Stasi secret police, which recruited members of the public as spies.
The cameras cannot be seen from the street, and officials have refused to say in which areas they have been installed. Evidence gleaned from the cameras can be used to take people to court.
Croydon councillor Gavin Barwell said: 'We'll be working together with the police to put them to best use.'
But some local residents have backed the idea. Kirenna Chin, 30, said: ‘Louts use my hedge as a bouncy castle and urinate in my front garden. It's very intimidating.
‘It's a fantastic idea to fit hidden CCTV. If they offered me one I would definitely take it.’
Croydon has one of London's most advanced CCTV networks.
The control room is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and there are 77 fixed cameras, a rapid-response mobile unit, and three wireless units.
