Is this really how our police should spend their time?
Outrage as helicopter spycam cops post photo of comedian McIntyre on Twitter
THEY are supposed to patrol the skies over London to keep citizens safe from crime.
But officers with the National Police Air Service had other ideas yesterday when they spotted a famous face through the lens of their helicopter’s spy camera.
They snapped comedian Michael McIntyre as he walked near Leicester Square at 8am, then posted the image of the top of his head on the @NPASLondon Twitter account, asking their 121,000 followers if they could guess who it was.
The move sparked an immediate furore over privacy laws and abuse of police powers. The tweet was later removed – but the Information Commissioner’s Office said it would investigate whether the Metropolitan Police officers had breached data protection laws. If so, they could be fined.
Posting the photo of McIntyre, 39, may also have breached the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice. Officers are supposed to have legitimate reasons to
‘Complete disregard for privacy laws’
share images publicly – such as hunting a wanted criminal. The police tweet met a barrage of criticism from followers who were alarmed at the casual attitude towards the comedian’s privacy.
Civil liberty campaign groups said the NPAS had shown a total disregard for surveillance and data protection laws.
Rachel Robinson, of Liberty, said: ‘With public concern around the misuse of state surveillance growing, this latest example suggests a blase attitude to our privacy.
‘This doesn’t bode well for those of us concerned about police use of new surveillance technology such as drones. How confident can we really be that our privacy is being taken seriously?’
Emma Carr, director of Big Brother Watch, added: ‘ At best, posting this image was a complete waste of time. At worst, NPAS seem to have had complete disregard for the surveillance and data protection laws that are there to protect our privacy.’ Gerard Batten, Ukip MEP for London, said publishing the picture online amounted to a ‘gross misuse of police power’.
The NPAS initially said that ‘as far as we are aware’ the tweet involving McIntyre did not breach any data protection legislation but later announced it was investigating the incident.
The Information Commissioner’s Office also said it would investigate, adding that disclosing the image without a justifiable policing purpose could breach the Data Protection Act. Separately, concerns were raised that the tweet broke the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, introduced in 2013 after fears that surveillance powers could be misused by the state in public places.
The privacy row comes after it was reported that the Met sacked five officers for taking photos of the public and posting them online with ‘disrespectful and in one case predatory’ comments.
At his home in Hampstead, North West London, yesterday, married father- of-two McIntyre declined to comment but a spokesman for the comedian said later: ‘The police should be spending their time more wisely.’