Ethical, Professional and Legal Issues in CCTV Surveillance
Privacy in CCTV Surveillance:
Social, Ethical Professional and Legal Issues
Introduction to Privacy
This essay will analyse the personal privacy of CCTV surveillance and the impact it has on the stakeholders, in terms of social, ethical professional and legal issues. Personal privacy is not something that can be defined easily. Privacy can mean many things from the right to be left alone to the right to have some control over how personal or health information is properly collected, stored, used or released – see, for instance Information and Privacy Commission (2013). There are various opinions about what if there was no CCTV surveillance, and everyone could have their own personal space where they can live without any thoughts of being watched by someone, and what are the results by installing CCTV’s, in other words has installing CCTV cameras helped improving the goal of what is it supposed to do? But mostly all of the people agree to that it poses a threat to personal privacy which is of value to the individuals and to the society. In regards to this, Moor (1997) has introduced a theory of privacy that incorporates important elements of non-intrusion, non-interference and informational views of privacy. ‘An individual has privacy in a situation if in that particular situation the individual is protected from intrusion, interference, and information access by others’ (Moor, 1997; Duncan Langford, p67, 2000). The government’s evidence does not totally explain that how the collection of the surveillance has helped them to improve their objectives. The use of surveillance and personal information may lead to a disagreement between the interests of the citizens and the gathering of personal information, which has the potential to destabilize privacy and the freedom of an individual. It is not the technology that invades personal privacy of the people but it is the people who have tendency in various ways to invade privacy of others (Stamatellos p.25 2007).
Social, Ethical Professional and Legal Issues
Introduction to Privacy
This essay will analyse the personal privacy of CCTV surveillance and the impact it has on the stakeholders, in terms of social, ethical professional and legal issues. Personal privacy is not something that can be defined easily. Privacy can mean many things from the right to be left alone to the right to have some control over how personal or health information is properly collected, stored, used or released – see, for instance Information and Privacy Commission (2013). There are various opinions about what if there was no CCTV surveillance, and everyone could have their own personal space where they can live without any thoughts of being watched by someone, and what are the results by installing CCTV’s, in other words has installing CCTV cameras helped improving the goal of what is it supposed to do? But mostly all of the people agree to that it poses a threat to personal privacy which is of value to the individuals and to the society. In regards to this, Moor (1997) has introduced a theory of privacy that incorporates important elements of non-intrusion, non-interference and informational views of privacy. ‘An individual has privacy in a situation if in that particular situation the individual is protected from intrusion, interference, and information access by others’ (Moor, 1997; Duncan Langford, p67, 2000). The government’s evidence does not totally explain that how the collection of the surveillance has helped them to improve their objectives. The use of surveillance and personal information may lead to a disagreement between the interests of the citizens and the gathering of personal information, which has the potential to destabilize privacy and the freedom of an individual. It is not the technology that invades personal privacy of the people but it is the people who have tendency in various ways to invade privacy of others (Stamatellos p.25 2007).
References: 1. Stamatellos, G, 2007. Chapter 3: Privacy and Anonymity, page-25. Computer Ethics: A Global Perspective. Published by, Jones and Bartlett Publishes, Inc. USA 2. Rose 5. Langford D, 2000. Chapter 4: Privacy and Security, page-67 Internet Ethics. Published by, McMillan Press Ltd, USA 6. What is privacy? - Information and Privacy Commission New South Wales 7. House of Lords , 2013. Constitution Committee - Second Report . Surveillance: Citizens and the State, [Online]. Page-316. Available at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldselect/ldconst/18/1802.htm [Accessed 21 November 2013]. 11. BBC News - 'Six crimes a day ' solved by CCTV, Met says. 2013. BBC News - 'Six crimes a day ' solved by CCTV, Met says. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12080487. [Accessed 22 November 2013].