TfL deploys privacy-busting voyeurcam

Forget Google's Street View - Transport for London is the new black when it comes to privacy-busting surveillance black ops, if this live traffic camera image captured yesterday is anything to go by: TfL camera in Richmond showing couple in bed We're not quite sure what's going on here and how it affects the flow of traffic …

[Rob]

FAIL

For the obvious reason that this sort of image is completely useless without a nightvision filter of some sort.

[Anonymous Coward]

Whats the big surprise?

They (the people in charge) have always said the proceedures prevent this kind of behaviour!

of course they do....

fed up with the nonsense! heads should roll, jobs should go etc..

[Richard 81]

Hmm

Looks to me like there's no one in there.

But earlier... well, methinks some TFL employee might have rotated the camera for a private viewing at tax payer's expense.

[DJ 2]

Un zoom so that you can see the channel iles

That's a strange place to put a street camera, about 20 miles north of the channel iles, seems there is lots of traffic though!

[soaklord]

Gives a whole new meaning...

to riding the tube, eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

And Holborn is in the Channel, just off the shore near Le Havre.

No, seriously, zoom that map all the way out and you'll see:

http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/1469/tflmeansteleportationfo.png

Apparently "TFL" stands for "Teleportation For London" or something like that!

[Jon 21]

Nice.

I trust someone is going to get the boot for perving when they should be watching out for bus loads of Terrorists. Nice living in a goldfish bowl, innit?

[John Taylor]

Problem solved

At leat it's now fixed.

[TheRobster]

Oh. My. God.

I hope the owners of that house sue TFL, its not like that's an accident, one of the camera operators has clearly noticed that they can focus through someone's window and straight at their bed and made a clear decision to do so.

Like biometric data storage, traffic cams - great idea in principal but its operated by humans, so it'll get abused.

[JaitcH]

Not only in England

There have been several incidents reported where cameras have been directed in an inappropriate direction.

In Toronto a camera mounted atop a Bell Canada building was frequently observed scanning a nearby high-end condominium apartment block which was 90 degrees off it's designated target - the Don Valley Parkway.

In some jurisdictions screens have been affixed to camera mounts to prevent the lens 'accidentally' capturing inappropriate images or invading privacy. Speed trap/traffic light cameras are not permitted to photograph facial images of occupants.

Of course, in Britain the government seems to pursue a policy of zero privacy, except for MPs expense claims.

[Stone Fox]

ah shucks...

they seem to have fixed it already.

[J-Wick]

Is anything actually going on?

I can only see an empty, half-made bed. Which in itself is way too intrusive, but still...!

[Dennis]

the new Tate Modern

Perhaps it's just a new Tracy Emin installation.

Although it does look like someone lying on their side reading a book.

[Christoph]

Well done Plod!

How else can they protect us from terrorists under our beds unless they can watch us in bed? It's for our own good!

[Anthony Eeles]

To the fine, upstanding CCTV operators at TfL

GET BACK TO WORK!!!

[frank ly]

Just wondering

Is that a bottle of Mateus Rose on the window sill? (I gave up trying to figure out what was happening on the bed).

[Tim Schomer]

Nah..

..Just one of them erotic vases

Obvious really

[gizmo23]

Obvious

I'm surprised no-one's made the "if you've got nothing to hide why do you close your curtains?" commentary. Seems like this is a perfect example of why privacy is important.

[Andy Livingstone]

Smart edit?

Good editing or just good luck that the advert alongside was "Playmobil Perversions"????

[Martin Nicholls]

Procedures..

"They (the people in charge) have always said the proceedures prevent this kind of behaviour!"

Okay well we don't do pre-crime this isn't the minority report - but it is a criminal offence.. Be interesting to know what happend, looks a bit high for <drunk person> to have messed with it.

[Anonymous Coward]

faces

Speed traffic cameras not allowed to capture images of people's faces? Which country is that?

The ANPR cameras here can record images of people's faces...

[JaitcH]

No faces in

Canada.

[David 45]

Bed?

Just a bed, I reckon. Agree with other comments. Can't produce any nefarious goings on, no matter how hard I glare and I've had plenty of staring experience, (oops, what a give-away).

[heyrick]

And is it still there?

Tried looking for the camera. Found it, along with a message stating "This camera is currently unavailable for operational reasons". What's the betting it is STILL looking for rumpy-pumpy, only now the operator has been smart enough to unplug it from the rest of the world.

What? Cynical? Meee?

[Paul Smith]

Wow - I feel so much safer.

It took me less then five minutes to find the address of house in question http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.458285,-0.31693&spn=0,359.991674&z=17&layer=c&cbll=51.458341,-0.316819&panoid=8-hhpTkDk_gu55d9fATBgw&cbp=12,218.05,,0,-5.09 and the name of the registered householder (I leave that to the reader). I would hope that some considerate lawyer writes to the occupants to offer their services in obtaining just reward for the entertainment they have provided. At the very least, they should be given a free Oyster card. Then we could track them online all day.

Mines the one with nothing (left) to hide.

[Graham Bartlett]

Empty bed?

Look through the front window of most houses, you'll see the same. And during the day, most people leave their curtains open because (yes indeed, Gizmo123) they've got nothing to hide.

I don't care if the world knows I go to work and leave my bed unmade. Big deal. Sure, privacy is important when you want/need privacy - and that's why curtains were invented. You want to leave the curtains open, don't be surprised that people can see you. Yeah, a pervy camera operator could be looking in, but so could anyone passing on the street outside, so it's not exactly something that needs New, Improved Laws with Super-Enforcement. (Washes whiter than white, unless you're black, wearing a turban, protesting or taking photos, in which case harsher stain-removal methods may be required. Civil rights not included. Battery very definitely included.)

[SJ Emmons]

But...

the bedroom's upstairs. Unless you're a giraffe or you're up a bean-pole, you'd never see it.

[PsychicMonkey]

ok

so I'll put a camera at your window and film what you are doing, cause you don't mind being filmed all the time.

[DI_Wyman]

I can't..

...believe the state of that bed, is it Tracy Emin's?