24 May 2010 - Council's IT chief welcomes Government moves to limit "snooping"
The councillor in charge of IT at Bristol City Council has welcomed the coalition government's moves to restrict "snooping" by councils. Six months ago, Liberal Democrat Cllr Mark Wright led moves in the council to limit the use in Bristol of powers afforded in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).
The coalition government plans to force councils to get RIPA warrants signed off by a magistrate before use, and only allow them to stop "serious" crime.
Cllr Wright commented, "The Lib Dems in Bristol had recognised some time ago that snooping by councils had overstepped the mark. We all understand that there are situations where it is in the public interest for councils to be able to use information on citizens, but sadly too many councils had got carried away with these powers and the public had lost trust as a result."
"When we took over the Council from Labour last year, I initiated a voluntary move by Bristol Council to toughen up our own procedures for using RIPA, because I wanted to make sure that we would not be one of the councils using these laws for frivolous tasks."
"Although I was confident that there would not have been any improper use of RIPA snooping powers here in Bristol with councillors in charge who respect privacy and civil liberties, I always worried about the hundreds of other councils. But now with Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg leading the 'Freedom Bill. in the Government, all councils will be forced to respect civil liberties as we do in Bristol."
The coalition government has also moved quickly to abolish ID cards and ban the fingerprinting of children in schools without parental permission, both of which were the subject of motions proposed by Cllr Wright and passed by Bristol Council.
Additional info:
"Council takes action to safeguard privacy" - Dec 2009
1st Motion against ID cards - Nov 2005
2nd Motion against ID cards and fingerprinting children in schools - Jan 2009