Councils ordered to stop spying on residents

Apr 17 2009 by Neil Elkes, Birmingham Mail

Mrs Smith said it was right that they could be used for combating fly-tipping and rogue traders as well as serious crime and terror.

She said: “Our country has a proud tradition of individual freedom. This involves freedom from unjustified interference by the State.

“But it also includes freedom from interference by those who would do us harm.

“The Government is responsible for protecting both types of freedom. In order to do this, we must ensure that the police and other public authorities have the powers they need. But we must also ensure that those powers are not used inappropriately or excessively.

“I don’t want to see these powers being used to target people for putting their bins out on the wrong day or for dog fouling offences.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said the Government had allowed RIPA to become “a snooper’s charter”.

“It was supposed to be there to tackle terrorism and serious crime. Instead it’s being used by both the Government and hundreds of local authorities to pry into all kinds of different parts of people’s lives. It has to stop.”

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said the consultation was “a tacit admission by the Government that its surveillance society has got out of hand”.

• Is the Home Secretary right? Are you a victim of council snooping? Email neil.elkes@birminghammail.net