Sponsored by
Don't fear the RIPA
"Anti-terror' laws which allow council bosses to keep a watchful eye on Lancashire residents have come under fire. But investigators claim the powers aren't a snooper's charter and are actually limiting their work, as Chris Visser finds out...
Caught on camera . . .
The cleaners who failed to show up for work, the care assistant who over-claimed on travel expenses, residents who pursued false personal injury claims and the furniture retailer who sold faulty products.
These are all examples of occasions when the county council used the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) to carry out surveillance on suspected malpractice.
But since the law was widened to include councils in 2003, there have been claims authorities are misusing RIPA to "snoop" on residents over minor misdemeanours at the expense of civil liberties. The Home Office has even launched a review of the law to probe whether the legislation is being used properly.
But Lancashire's trading standards investigation team insists the county council is using the law to properly detect crime or prevent disorder – the only grounds that a local authority can authorise such surveillance. It says there have been no complaints of its methods so far.
Trading standards manager Gerry Smallshaw explains: "A lot of our investigation techniques are what they have been for years so there's nothing particularly new. Contrary to the suggestion that RIPA is there to tackle terrorists, which it is there partially to do, the main reason for it, was a number of police cases where they gathered evidence and trampled over people's privacy.
"RIPA was an answer to what people could and couldn't do."
Mr Smallshaw says most investigations do not require RIPA as they deal with companies and businesses, which avoids the need to come into contact with or use private data.
Other cases involve "indirect surveillance" such as general CCTV camera shots not specifically targeting anyone.
But if an inquiry does involve personal information, such as home and mobile phone numbers and addresses, RIPA must be used. It has been used for direct surveillance 32 times since 2004 but has also been required on more than 300 other occasions to gather information on the owners of phone numbers and email addresses from communication companies.
For the full story and to read some success stories, see today's Lancashire Evening Post
>> Vote in our latest web poll
lepone: Every section and special feature can be found on a single page
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Preston
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -3 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light sleet
Temperature: 3 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
