CCTV operator alleges frequent breaches at council

A CCTV operator has alleged regular breaches of protocol at a council in Scotland, The Ferret reports.

The former employee of East Ayrshire Council told the investigative journalism platform that while working at the council’s Risk Management Centre he saw fellow operators breach privacy rules daily and without legal authorisation.

He claimed operators would track people if they “didn’t like the colour of their skin” or if they found them attractive. He said one operator would seek weekend evening shifts in order to watch women having a night out.

The ex-council worker complained to staff that the behaviour was “directed surveillance” in terms of the Covert Surveillance and Property Interference Code of Practice.

East Ayrshire Council denies all of the allegations.

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 provides that camera operators are meant to obtain authorisation from senior managers before tracking people.

But the source told The Ferret his complaints were ignored and that he was “taken aside or taken in for an unrecorded meeting where I was given veiled threats about causing trouble”.

Sometimes staff would ignore the monitors for hours or use them to check up on their own children walking home from school instead of monitoring high crime areas, he also alleged.

Alison McInnes, Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman, called for a review into CCTV safeguards.

She said: “These reports are hugely concerning. The spread of CCTV has rapidly outstripped our capacity to protect the civil liberties of those being followed on camera.

“CCTV can help keep us safe and protect against criminal activity but that does not mean operators should have carte blanche to track people on the basis of the colour of their skin or physical attractiveness. These reports will horrify people who would never have dreamed that their right to privacy could be disregarded in such a cavalier fashion.”

The Ferret raised the issues with Chris McAleavey, East Ayrshire Council’s deputy chief executive and strategic lead for safer communities.

He said: “We categorically reject all of those allegations.

“There is no evidence whatsoever of any concerns being raised with us by this former employee either verbally, or in writing, during the entire course of their employment with us.”