Bappa Majumdar,TNN | Nov 3, 2015, 03.04 PM IST
HYDERABAD: As city clubs, varsities, hostels and even police stations get ready to go under 24-hour surveillance by CCTVs, there are heightened concerns over the misuse of technology to intrude upon people's privacy.
With no set guidelines in place to control its working in India, CCTVs can be placed anywhere, ranging from bathrooms to police lock-ups. While CCTVs can definitely protect businesses and provide security to government infrastructure and high risk terror targets, there are risks of cameras being targeted towards people's lawns, ladies hostels and have been misused to blackmail or embarrass people by secretly installing them in change rooms and swimming pools.
In Hyderabad, the media has been agog with news of all recreational clubs in the city asked to install cameras inside their premises. Following a ban enforced by cops on increasing incidents of gambling inside clubs, a few had moved to high court, saying it tantamount to intrusion of privacy, Justice A.V. Sesha Sai, while allowing the clubs to organize sessions of rummy, a card game of skill, but asked all clubs to install CCTVs and link it with local police stations. While the provisions of the AP Gaming Act, 1974 allows cops to conduct raids on charges of gambling, huge worries have emerged now of how every act by members of the clubs will now be recorded and they would have to live constantly knowing they are being observed by the cops.
Some members fear that the cops could use this powerful tool to haul clubs over one trifle issue or the other.
It's not just the general public, even cops will have to extra careful with how they go about interrogating under trials in lock ups. In a major verdict to reduce custodial torture, the Supreme Court in July this year, asked all state government to install CCTVs in police stations and interrogation rooms to reduce growing custodial deaths. Armed with footage, random inspection of police stations will also be conducted and Cyberabad commissionerate will now see about 50 police stations getting over 450 cameras to keep watch on every movement of the police.
Senior police officials feel as along as cameras are kept out of lock ups and interrogation rooms, they are fine with the idea, but has huge worries about human rights activists creating a ruckus over the method of interrogating hardened criminals, who do not crack easily.
With the home department deciding to install cameras in ladies hostel and paying guests on security issues, concerns remain whether they would not be misused by turning it towards their rooms. In the past, there have been numerous complaints of secret filming of girls' hostel in varsities.
A move by the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) is a case in point where all colleges have been asked to install cameras at vital points to check ragging, but students are worried about how their privacy could be compromised with them knowing that every action was being monitored.
It's best to limit the cameras to exit and entry points and not turn an institute into a web of electronically-surveyed citadel.
Experts say there should be a clear law to provide safeguards, or the government's discretion can suddenly become arbitrary and denizens find themselves under the mercy of the law. While beefing up security is a welcome move, authorities must also realize, while discharging their duties that the idea of privacy is to respect individual rights.