Covert surveillance must be reserved for serious crimes, says government

Local authorities must cut down on using covert-surveillance techniques to investigate petty offences, the government has said.

Ripa (the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act) granted public authorities the power to use surveillance to investigate crimes such as terrorism - but councils have attracted criticism for using them to detect petty offences such as dog-fouling.

Speaking on Monday at the Royal Society of Arts, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: "[the public] will not accept such powers being used to spy on people who put their rubbish out on the wrong day, or let their dogs foul the streets, because this is clearly not proportionate".

Government has said local councils must cut back on Ripa surveillance techniques
(Photo credit: Paul Kehrer)

For more on this story, see Government curbs councils' Ripa powers on ZDNet UK.