Serious Surveillance used on local citizens

I found a really interesting article after I finished blogging yesterday.

The anti-terrorism laws that have been put in place to protect society are being used to harm society, or at the very least they are being misused.

As I mentioned before the structures that we are looking at is federal programs with local appendages. The community council programs in the UK are some of the best examples right now, because the outcome is so much more clear than anywhere else. The UK really has in my opinion become a surveillance society, not just because of the CCTV cameras no, but because of the civilian spying as well.

[quote]An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph found that three quarters of local authorities have used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000 over the past year.
The Act gives councils the right to place residents and businesses under surveillance, trace telephone and email accounts and even send staff on undercover missions.

The findings alarmed civil liberties campaigners. Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, said: "Councils do a grave disservice to professional policing by using serious surveillance against litterbugs instead of terrorists."

The RIPA was introduced to help fight terrorism and crime. But a series of extensions, first authorised by David Blunkett in 2003, mean that Britain's 474 councils can use the law to tackle minor misdemeanours.

Councils are using the Act to tackle dog fouling, the unauthorised sale of pizzas and the abuse of the blue badge scheme for disabled drivers.

Among 115 councils that responded to a Freedom of Information request, 89 admitted that they had instigated investigations under the Act. The 82 councils that provided figures said that they authorised or carried out a total of 867 RIPA investigations during the year to August
[/quote]

The RIPA act is obviously being misused in these instances and it's helping people to do all sorts of bad things.

[quote]Surveillance operations aimed at individual homes and businesses can last for months. Calderdale council in West Yorkshire began "direct covert surveillance" targeting one business in May that is still going on.

Local authorities including Bassetlaw, Easington, Bolsover and Darlington have placed houses under video or photographic surveillance to tackle problems such as anti-social behaviour, unauthorised entry into gardens and benefit fraud. Others admitted using council staff to follow residents to determine whether they were working while claiming benefits. [/quote]

If they will misuse these laws for simple things such as anti-social behaviour, benefit fraud, etc what else would they use these laws to do?

[quote]He added: "Councils do not use these powers to mount fishing expeditions. First and foremost it is about protecting the public, not intruding on privacy. Crime-busting powers are targeted at suspected criminals and used only when absolutely necessary."

Smokers, drivers and even emails are being monitored * Newcastle City Council used the Act to monitor noise levels from smoking shelters at two different licensed premises. The council has twice used the legislation to monitor noise from a vet’s practice following a complaint about barking.

* Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council used it to deal with 16 complaints about barking dogs.
* Derby Council made sound recordings at a property following a complaint about noisy children.
* Peterborough Council investigated the operation of the blue badge scheme for disabled drivers.
* Poole Council used it to detect illegal fishing in Poole Harbour.
* Basingstoke Council used photographic surveillance against one of its own refuse collectors
after allegations he was charging residents for a service that should be free. The operation was dropped when it was decided the allegation was false.
* Aberdeenshire Council admitted using the Scottish version of the Act to request the name and address of a mobile phone user as part of an investigation into offences under the Weights and Measures Act.
* Easington council put a resident’s garden under camera surveillance after a complaint from neighbours about noise.
* Canterbury City Council used CCTV surveillance and an officer’s observations to monitor illegal street trading.
* Brighton and Hove council launched four operations against graffiti artists
* Torbay Council accessed an employee’s emails after an allegation that suspect material had been sent. A second employee was investigated over the “use of council vehicle for personal gain”.
* Westminster City Council covertly filmed a locksmith following allegations of fraud.
* Durham County Council obtained authorisation to monitor car boot sales during an investigation into the sale of counterfeit goods.
Power in the hands of local authorities [/quote]

The list of misuses continued. In the hands of the wrong powers and authorities these laws are clearly being abused.

Since the government put the power into the hands of the people, which I think is a good thing if done right, in these instances they are clearly misusing these powers, but no one is monitoring it and no one will say anything about it.

[quote]The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act allows for the interception of communications, acquisition and disclosure of data relating to communications, carrying-out of surveillance, use of covert intelligence sources and access to encrypted or password-protected data.

It can be evoked by public servants on the grounds of national security, and for the purposes of preventing or detecting crime, preventing disorder, public safety, protecting public health, or in the interests of the UK’s economic well-being. Councils were first granted use of the legislation in 2003. [/quote]

Public servants can evoke these laws and they have been using them very liberally. As you will see in the second article.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2696035/Anti-terrorism-laws-Snoops-persec ute-minor-offenders-as-crooks-avoid-justice.html

[quote]Councils are using anti-terrorism laws to spy on residents and tackle barking dogs and noisy children. [/quote]

It's not what the law was intended for, but without proper monitoring it's all apparently being done.

[quote]The Act gives councils the right to place residents and businesses under surveillance, trace telephone and email accounts and even send staff on undercover missions.

The findings alarmed civil liberties campaigners. Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, said: "Councils do a grave disservice to professional policing by using serious surveillance against litterbugs instead of terrorists."

The RIPA was introduced to help fight terrorism and crime. But a series of extensions, first authorised by David Blunkett in 2003, mean that Britain's 474 councils can use the law to tackle minor misdemeanours. [/quote]

This is alarming, think about what this means. Serious Surveillance against litter bugs? What about people that they think are crazy or a bit off? What about that outspoken activist? What about that homeschooling mum, surly she must have something to hide? Do you see the endless possibilities and scenarios?

[quote]Surveillance operations aimed at individual homes and businesses can last for months. Calderdale council in West Yorkshire began "direct covert surveillance" targeting one business in May that is still going on.

Local authorities including Bassetlaw, Easington, Bolsover and Darlington have placed houses under video or photographic surveillance to tackle problems such as anti-social behaviour, unauthorised entry into gardens and benefit fraud. Others admitted using council staff to follow residents to determine whether they were working while claiming benefits. [/quote]

These surveillance operations aimed at individual homes can go on for months? really? Who puts limits on time lines?

[quote]Councils have used the RIPA to recruit children for surveillance operations. Dudley and County Durham exploited the Act to send children into shops with secret video and audio equipment to see whether they could buy cigarettes and alcohol. Officials in Durham have mounted 60 RIPA investigations against these kinds of businesses in the past 12 months. [/quote]

They are using RIPA laws to recruit children for surveillance operations, not surprised but disgusted.

I hope after reading these two articles, you begin to see how such laws could be abused and more importantly could apply to our own circumstances?

It's power in the hands of the people, but if there is no way to monitor it, or report these offences when they happen then that represents a serious failing on the part of the authorities that put
the power there in the first place.