March of the dustbin Stasi: Half of councils use anti-terror laws to watch people putting rubbish out on the wrong day

More than half of town halls admit using anti-terror laws to spy on families suspected of putting their rubbish out on the wrong day.

Their tactics include putting secret cameras in tin cans, on lamp posts and even in the homes of 'friendly' residents.

The local authorities admitted that one of their main aims was to catch householders who put their bins out early.
The shocking way in which the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act - an anti-terror law - is being used was revealed through freedom of information requests made by the Daily Mail.

MPs and civil liberties groups last night accused councils of using the draconian powers for trivial reasons.

Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty said: 'Snooping appears to have become the favourite pastime in town halls up and down the land.

'Common sense has gone out of the window and instead of putting out more bins, councils spy on householders as if they were terrorists.'

Tory communities spokesman Eric Pickles said: 'Under Labour, the rights and liberties of law-abiding citizens are being eroded through plans for ID cards, sinister microchip spies in bins and abuse of anti-terror laws by councils.

'Taxpayers' money is being wasted on bankrolling an army of municipal bureaucrats who have watched too many episodes of Spooks.'

The Mail requested information from all of the 474 councils in England. Of the 151 which replied, some 77 - more than half - said they had used the legislation in the last three years for suspected 'domestic waste, littering or fly-tipping offences'.

Although it is ostensibly an anti-terror law, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, or RIPA, is worded so loosely that it can be used to justify surveillance operations for a variety of reasons.
graphic

These include spying to 'protect public health' or the 'economic well-being of the UK'.

This means that councils can use the powers granted by the Act to monitor families' treatment of household waste.

In Lincolnshire, West Lindsey District Council uses the new powers to place motion-activated cameras on lamp posts to catch homeowners putting their bins out at the wrong time.

One officer told an undercover reporter: 'In some areas, particularly where there is terraced housing, we have a problem with people putting their black rubbish bags out three or four days early.

'When they have been left in alleyways or at the rear of terraced properties, it is difficult to identify exactly who has placed them there.

'The cameras are hidden in tin cans or put on lamp posts and allow us to monitor who is coming out of which property and leaving their rubbish. Sometimes we are able to put these cameras inside peoples' homes that overlook the alleyways.

Shami Chakrabarti

Shami Chakrabarti: 'Snooping appears to have become the favourite pastime in town halls up and down the land'

'These are usually residents who have complained to us about rubbish being dumped outside their house on the wrong day.'

The council said it had been able to hand out 'several' fixed penalty notices on the basis of the evidence it had obtained.

Officers at Southwark District Council also admitted that they had mounted cameras on lamp posts to spy on residents suspected of leaving rubbish out at the wrong time.

The revelations have raised fresh concerns about the Home Office's plans to create a 'Big Brother' database of every citizen's e-mail and internet records.

Ministers say that councils will not have access to the information.

But critics point out that RIPA, which was passed as anti-terror legislation, is now being routinely used by town halls - and the same could happen with the database.

Phil Booth, of the NO2ID campaign, said that public bodies were 'assembling the tools of a totalitarian state'.

He added: 'We are no longer living in what most would recognise as a free society. This is not justifiable or proportionate.'

Mark Wallace, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'It is crazy that so many councils are using anti-terror legislation to spy on their residents. It must cost a huge amount for all these concealed cameras, just to give a few people relatively low-level fines.'

Other local authorities which gave details of how they used RIPA included Lewes District Council in East Sussex.

It admitted that the Act was used to gain evidence on residents who persistently left rubbish out at the wrong time.

South Bedfordshire council also admitted going through phone bills inside rubbish bags to identify who had left them outside.

Officers also electronically tagged certain types of rubbish to find out if they had been dumped illegally.

Wycombe District council in Buckinghamshire put an electronic tag on rubbish left outside a shop to see if it was taken.

A spokesman for the Local Government Association, which represents councils, said: 'The LGA has written to councils to say that surveillance should not be undertaken unless it is absolutely necessary and proportionate to the crime that's being investigated.

'Councils have a duty to protect their residents and are tuned in to the worries people might have about surveillance.

'These powers are essential in making sure that benefits cheats, fly-tippers, rogue traders and other serious criminals are caught and brought to justice.'

No comments:

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Categories

Amazing (83) Humor (47) weird (44) Interesting (43) cool (40) Incredible (34) beautiful (26) Animal (20) World News (19) wonderful (18) Dogs (15) Crazy Stuff (13) Nasa (11) believe it or not (11) Strange (10) Bizarre (9) Science (9) unusual (9) Amazing Fact (8) Artwork (8) awesome (8) Baby (7) Interesting fact (6) Ugliest Dog (6) World (6) Amazing Animals (5) Amazingly (5) Cat (5) Pets and Animal (5) Woman (5) Daredevil (4) Games (4) Horse (4) Man (4) Monster (4) Pregnant man (4) Technology (4) fattest man (4) space (4) Amazing photo (3) Britney Spears (3) Car (3) Cow (3) Dolphins (3) Fat (3) Fishing (3) Health and Fitness (3) Miscellenous (3) Monkey (3) Oldest (3) Shark (3) record breaking (3) sea (3) spider (3) wedding (3) woman's skill (3) Aeroplane (2) Aliens (2) Amy Winehouse (2) Angelina Jolie (2) Beer (2) Black Scorpion (2) Breakthrough Thinking (2) Britney (2) Cancer (2) Children (2) Chinese (2) Cigarette (2) Classic Cars (2) Current Events (2) Design (2) Dung Beetles (2) Eiffel Tower (2) Electric guitar (2) Elephant (2) Exotic fish (2) Expensive (2) Extraordinary (2) Faces (2) Family (2) Fashion (2) Fat Boy (2) Fergie (2) Food (2) Giant (2) Grand Father (2) Guinness Book (2) Guinness World Records (2) Halloween (2) Historical Perspectives (2) Hot Issues (2) Human Tiger (2) Human being (2) Koala bear (2) Latest News (2) Latest Trend (2) Leg (2) Life on Mars (2) Married (2) Medical (2) Medical Breakthrough (2) Mother (2) Motor Vehicle (2) Nature (2) Nature errors (2) New Discoveries (2) New Discovery (2) New Drug (2) Olympic (2) People Making a Difference (2) Photo Perspectives (2) Robot (2) Rubbish (2) Scientist (2) Sheep (2) Snake-girl (2) Sound (2) Stunts (2) Tattoos (2) Technology News (2) Telephone (2) Travelling (2) Tree (2) UFO (2) Venus (2) Wild Animal (2) X-ray (2) Zoo (2) biggest horse (2) face (2) jewellery (2) mystery man (2) photographer (2) plane (2) pumpkin (2) puppies (2) satellites (2) sexy (2) species (2) swimming pool (2) volcano (2) whale (2) 14 spoons (1) 400m plunge (1) Agriculture (1) Airlines (1) Albert Einstein (1) Albino Animals (1) Alcohol (1) Alesha Dixon (1) Alizee Poulicek (1) Amazing landmark (1) Amazing pictures (1) American dream (1) Amputee (1) Ancient city (1) Andes (1) Anti-terror (1) Antibiotics (1) Apples (1) Architecture (1) BBC (1) BMW (1) Baldy (1) Balloons (1) Bangkok (1) Beaten (1) Bicycles (1) Big Problems (1) Big Shotz (1) BigDog (1) Biofuels (1) Bionic leg (1) Bizarre Fashion (1) Black magic (1) Body builder (1) Bound (1) Brad and Angelina (1) Bread (1) Brick Art (1) Britain (1) British Journalism (1) British sport (1) Brown Bears (1) Bubble-wrap (1) Bullet (1) Burmese python (1) C (1) Carrot (1) Cat Man (1) Celebrity (1) Chihuahua foetus (1) Chimps (1) Christina Aguilera (1) Circle (1) Circus (1) Climate (1) Cloud Formations (1) Council (1) Council workmen (1) Court (1) Crab (1) Credit (1) Credit crunched (1) Crispy Duck (1) Crows (1) Cruise ship (1) Cubans poach (1) Curvy Martine McCutcheon (1) Custom (1) Diabolical (1) Diamond (1) Diesel (1) Disclaimer (1) Dog Brain (1) Dog Liver (1) Dordogne River (1) Dresses (1) Driftwood sculpture (1) Dummy lenses (1) Dustbin (1) Eagle (1) Earthquake (1) Eggstrordinary (1) Electrochemistry (1) Elephants (1) Eminem’s (1) Entertainment (1) Explosive power (1) FOUR Ears (1) Faith (1) Famous (1) Fancy (1) Farmland (1) Fashion craze (1) Female Trainers (1) Fermented (1) Ferrari (1) Festival (1) Firefly (1) Fitness (1) Flintstones (1) Football (1) Footloose (1) Frankfurt (1) Frenzy (1) Fungus (1) Funny (1) Gang (1) Gannets (1) Gateway of India (1) Genetic mutation (1) Ghost (1) Giant Squid (1) Giant squash (1) Global warming (1) Gold Medal (1) Gold chain (1) Gorilla (1) Gost Lungs (1) Grand Canyon (1) Grandchildren (1) Graveyard (1) Great New Product (1) Green energy (1) Gymnastics (1) Haiti earthquake (1) Half-tonne (1) Handbrake (1) Helicopter (1) Hell (1) Hernia (1) Heron (1) Hi-tech (1) Highest Cities (1) Himalayas (1) Historic statue (1) Holy Quran (1) Hope (1) Horrific.vile (1) Horro (1) Horrors (1) Horse Stew (1) Hottest Chilli (1) House (1) Houses (1) Hunting (1) Ice Age (1) Icebergs (1) Icy pond (1) Illicit Use of Drugs (1) Incidents Involving Firearms (1) Insects (1) Iron (1) Italian (1) Japanese Monkey (1) Jennifer Aniston (1) Jennifer Anistonं (1) Jessica Alba (1) Jessica Simpson Nude (1) Jesus (1) Jetpack (1) Jolie (1) Jordan (1) Jules (1) Kim Cattrall (1) Kissing (1) Kiteboarder (1) Korea’s (1) Lake (1) Landmine.Injury (1) Largest Breast (1) Largest Giants (1) Lemon Shark (1) Lindsay Lohan (1) Lindsay Lohan lesbian (1) Little (1) Lorraine Kelly (1) Lounging lizards (1) Love-sick (1) MARZIPAN BABIES (1) MRSA (1) Malaysian tower (1) Manchester. (1) March (1) Mars (1) Meat (1) Metal (1) Microbial (1) Microlight (1) Montauk Monster (1) Mr Berlusconi (1) Mugger (1) Murphy and Edmonds (1) Mushrooms (1) Muslim (1) Muslim extremists (1) Mysterious (1) NOSE (1) Naan (1) Naked Superfood (1) National Park (1) Natural Breast (1) Neck (1) Necklace (1) Network (1) New Viewpoints (1) Next 9/11 (1) Nicole Kidman (1) Oar Fish (1) Obese (1) Octopus (1) Official stamp (1) Oldest mum (1) Optical illusion (1) Orphan deer (1) PLANT LIFE (1) Pakistan (1) Penguin (1) Pensioner (1) Peter Jaeckel (1) Physical Inactivity (1) Pilgrims (1) Politics (1) Pony (1) Poor Diet (1) Poorest Countries (1) Prime Minister (1) Pumpkins (1) Purdeys Drink (1) Quotes (1) Red Bull Cola (1) Red Peppers (1) Rice (1) Robodog (1) Rodeos (1) Royal park (1) Rubbish Art (1) Russian Art (1) Sales (1) Sandwich (1) Schoenbrunn (1) Science fan (1) Scientists (1) Sea Serpent (1) SeaHorse Skewers (1) Sealife (1) Security (1) Sharks (1) Shell (1) Shoal (1) Sick (1) Sign (1) Silk Worm (1) Sip (1) Skin Cancer (1) Skydivers (1) Slaughter (1) Smallest girl (1) Smallest man (1) Smashing news (1) Snow sculpture (1) South Rim (1) Sparked fury (1) Spectacular (1) Spider Rock (1) Spooktacular (1) Sport (1) Squatter Camp (1) St Pancras (1) Stars (1) Statue of Liberty (1) Stunning (1) Sugar (1) Surfer (1) Surgeons (1) Surrogate mother (1) TONNES (1) Teenager (1) Tennessee (1) Thailand (1) The Jungle (1) Thomas Beatie (1) Thorax (1) Tiny premature (1) Titanic (1) Tobacco (1) Toilets (1) Tomb Art (1) Top 10 Entertainmen (1) Tower Bridge (1) Toxic (1) Train suicide (1) Triangle (1) Triplets (1) Truck (1) Tumble (1) Turtle (1) Twin brothers (1) Ugliest cat (1) Unusual technique (1) Vegetables (1) Vehicles (1) Victoria Beckham (1) Victoria’s Defence (1) Victory Column (1) Vodafone (1) Washing Machine (1) Watched (1) Water-Ice (1) Weatherman (1) White House (1) World's oldest man (1) Wrestling (1) Zoos (1) abandoned places (1) aircraft (1) aquarium (1) beach (1) beaver (1) biggest egg (1) body weight (1) boobs (1) bronze statue (1) burglars (1) charmers (1) chase (1) chest (1) cocooned parasitic (1) corals (1) craziest stunts (1) crowded बार (1) cycling race (1) damaged Airport (1) dazzling (1) deep canyon (1) disco (1) discover (1) dragon millipede (1) dramatic Pictures (1) face plant (1) fall (1) foolishness (1) fox (1) gemstones (1) guitars (1) heavens (1) hedgehogs (1) hippo (1) history (1) huntsman spider (1) intaranet (1) jumpers (1) jupitar (1) kangaroo (1) kitten (1) landmarks (1) leaves (1) lens (1) life-saving (1) lights (1) lobster (1) lonely (1) longest legs (1) loudspeaker (1) memphis (1) monsters (1) motorcycle (1) new video (1) nine-year-old (1) ocean (1) oddball (1) open brain coral (1) pandas (1) parkour (1) peacock (1) phone (1) photografy (1) pilot (1) pirate dog (1) planet (1) pole (1) regardless (1) runway (1) sex scenes (1) sex war (1) sexy full-body (1) skeletons (1) skinsuit (1) sky black (1) slasher movie (1) sleep (1) smallest bird (1) smile (1) starlings (1) stone-ishing (1) stuntman (1) sunset (1) surfing (1) surreal (1) swimmer (1) swimsuits (1) telegraph (1) tentacles (1) tissue (1) traceurs (1) transgender (1) twins (1) vistas (1) washing line (1) wetsuit (1) white deer (1) world record (1) world's smallest bodybuilder (1)