Snooped on by nosy tourists

A recent picture tweeted by a police helicopter team showing funny-man Michael McIntyre standing in a London street hit headlines and had social media users slack-jawed and aghast at their keyboards over such a blatant invasion of privacy.

Rachel Robinson, the policy officer of human rights group Liberty, quite rightly questioned how confident the public should be that our privacy is being taken seriously by the police.

With condemnation coming in from all quarters, it came as no surprise that the independent privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), confirmed it would be investigating the incident as a potential breach of the Data Protection Act.

News that the ICO will also be examining whether the oldest purpose-built visitor attraction in Edinburgh is also in breach of the Act is a little harder to fathom, though.

The Camera Obscura on the Royal Mile is being investigated following the installation of new digital 'spy cameras'.

While the attraction's management have insisted they have received no complaints since the equipment was installed in September 2014, promo copy on the Obscura's website might impact on any defence against the accusations.

The Obscura's official website, which SJ notes has recently changed, had bragged about how its 'state of the art viewcams allow you to spy on people going about their business'.

'Our live powerful viewcams are located on the rooftop of the building and give you a panoramic view of the city. With your control you can zoom in and out and look all over town and far beyond. Have a closer look at some of the most fascinating architectural details of the city and also a great view of the hills and countryside surrounding Edinburgh. And of course spy on people,' it added.

Though mention of 'spying' has now been removed from the website, Emma Carr, the director of the privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, told The Scotsman: 'CCTV cameras are not toys and should not be trivialised by becoming a tourist attraction. People minding their own business in their own homes simply shouldn't have to worry about being snooped on by nosy tourists.'

While accepting that privacy is an important right, SJ wonders whether optical viewfinders, synonymous with British seafronts, will be next in the firing line?

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