Crime prevention and processing personal information There is chance that many organisations and businesses are operating CCTV systems illegally, as a result of failing to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The legal requirement is not actually for the registration of the system, but to declare that the organisation or firm is processing personal information. This requirement has been in place since 24 October 2001.

Video surveillance: The gap between reality and fiction One criticism of CCTV is that there are ‘too many cameras and not enough eyes’. This refers to the fact that the volume of footage from video surveillance cameras is so large that there are simply not enough CCTV monitoring personnel person hours available to possibly be able to review it all.