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VERNON - The province’s privacy watchdog is raising concerns about Vernon’s plan to install video surveillance cameras in a public park.

Acting Information and Privacy Commissioner Drew McArthur says the project could be an invasion of the public’s privacy.

“It causes me a great deal of concern,” McArthur says.

The City of Vernon wants to install video cameras in Polson Park to enhance safety. Council approved $35,000 in funding for the project earlier this week, and operations staff is aiming to have the cameras installed in the next couple of months.

McArthur only recently learned of the City’s plans and says his office has yet to receive the results of a privacy impact assessment, something that should be sent “well before” any final decision is made to proceed with surveillance, he says.

McArthur has been a vocal critic of video surveillance in public spaces, and says municipalities must meet strict guidelines if they want to monitor residents. 

He says the use of video surveillance in public spaces raises significant privacy issues, including consent to be recorded — and the argument of ‘if you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to hide’ doesn’t cut it.

“We don’t live in a surveillance society, so it’s inappropriate that everyone is subjected to video surveillance,” McArthur says.

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner makes several considerations when reviewing applications to install surveillance equipment, including whether or not other measures have been tried and if the use of monitoring devices will even solve the problem at hand — in Vernon’s case, safety.

“There is no proof we have in any jurisdiction around the world that video surveillance has been effective at deterring crime,” McArthur says. “In many cases, video surveillance is thwarted by a $10 pair of sunglasses and a hoodie.”

He points out that not even law enforcement agencies have the right to monitor people in public spaces.

Additionally, he says monitoring programs can be a headache for municipalities, because any member of the public can request a copy of the footage they were captured in. That can lead to lots of extra work for city staff that have to locate the file and redact images of other people before providing it to the individual, he says.

According to the City of Vernon’s operations manager Shirley Koenig, a privacy impact assessment was completed along with all other necessary paperwork. Koenig referred further questions regarding the impact assessment and privacy concerns to the City’s deputy corporate officer. iNFOnews.ca was unable to reach her prior to publication.

If the Office of the Privacy Commissioner investigates and determines a public body is illegally collecting information, it can make a legally binding order to have surveillance equipment removed.

More information about video surveillance and privacy rights can be found here.

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