London Indymedia

CCTV cameras can now watch you in the toilet

Mick Meaney | 16.06.2007 12:17 | Culture | Technology | London

Unbelievably, at least three British pubs are using CCTV cameras in their loos - and the number is growing as a national chain has plans to install more cameras around the country.

By Mick Meaney
RINF Alternative News

No, it’s not a joke and is possibly the lowest the surveillance society can go.

Unbelievably, at least three British pubs are using CCTV cameras in their loos - and the number is growing as a national chain has plans to install more cameras around the country.

Currently the pubs include two in Croydon, the Ship of Fools and The Skylark, along with The King James, a J D Wetherspoon’s in Hertfordshire.

This is a microcosm of what is happening all over the UK as Britain increasingly becomes a Big Brother state though government propaganda and scare tactics to convince us that we need protecting from terrorism, criminals and … ourselves.

27-year old manager of the Skylark, Kim McKay, said: “Unfortunately, there is a lot of drug use among youngsters today.

“It’s a good idea. I know people think it invades their privacy, but the cameras are situated so we only see what we need to see.

“We have had a lot of comments from regulars. They don’t like it, which is understandable, but they do understand why it’s there.”

However the pub has lowered the height of cubicle doors so that people’s faces can be seen as they come out, resulting in the invasion of privacy at the most inappropriate of levels.

These new measures are tasteless, indecent and lack common moral decency.

A spokesman for J D Wetherspoon had this to say: “There are cameras in the ladies and gents toilets at the pub in Cheshunt and at a number of other pubs.

“They are to keep an eye on any potential vandalism and general behaviour. The reason we do it is just for safety and to stop any problems. Others might disagree with the cameras being placed there but they will be staying. It is up to individual managers if they feel a need for them. It’s not a slur on the town.”

J D Wetherspoons is a nationwide chain of pubs, quiet often reffered to as “McPubs”, because they have no individuality. The fact these CCTV cameras will be used in all Wetherspoons is inevitable, spurring on other businesses to do the same in a game of surveillance catch-up.

One Wetherspoons regular, Ozzy Davies, of Hertfordshire, said: “As a family pub, I would have concerns that a woman struggling to cope with small children in the toilets may leave the door open presumably so she can keep an eye on the kids.

“The manager’s explanation was that it was put there to watch out for acts of vandalism and was not pointed directly at the urinals but there are numerous mirrors where a reflected image could possibly be seen. Even more disturbing was that mine was apparently the only complaint.”

This follows on from the installation of a pub fingerprint network in the UK which costs licensees just £1.50 a day to run, encouraging widespread growth and can be integrated with existing CCTV systems to check the identity of punters.

Mick Meaney
- Homepage: http://rinf.com/alt-news/surveillance-big-brother/cctv-cameras-can-now-watch-you-in-the-toilet/

Download this article in pdf format >>

Email this article to someone >>

Submit an addition or make a quick comment on this article >>

Comments

Display the following comment

  1. CCTV in school toilets for years — whassup?

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

London Topics

Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

London IMC

Desktop

About | Contact
Mission Statement
Editorial Guidelines
Publish | Help

Search :

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv

Africa
ambazonia
canarias
estrecho / madiaq
kenya
south africa

Canada
london, ontario
maritimes
ottawa
quebec
victoria

East Asia
japan
qc
saint-petersburg

Europe
abruzzo
alacant
antwerpen
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
bristol
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
euskal herria
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
london
madrid
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
nice
northern england
norway
oost-vlaanderen
paris/île-de-france
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
ukraine
united kingdom

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
melbourne
qc
sydney

South Asia
india

United States
arizona
atlanta
austin
baltimore
big muddy
binghamton
boston
buffalo
charlottesville
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
la
madison
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new mexico
new orleans
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
seattle
united states
urbana-champaign
western mass

West Asia
beirut
palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech

click here to publish your article