Cover Story
extensive databases of thieves and famous attack upon the Mosquito children are a menace. It is not
fraudsters, some of whom still work ultrasonic teenage deterrent which legitimate to say that we ‘don’t
retail. emits a high frequency noise that want kids in or around our stores or
“It is up to the retailers to lobby young people do not like. that ‘you are not welcome here’
harder the police and the Home Positioned outside stores where “It is also a damning thing that
Office because these databases are gangs tend to gather, it has the we get more anti Liberty mail on
saying that we will enforce our effect of dispersing unwanted this issue because of our stance
own justice and that is outside due crowds that scare shoppers. than we do about our position on
process. What I would say is that Liberty has been using the torture and extraordinary rendition.
rather than set up these informal Freedom of Information Act (FOI) to We cannot blanket attack
structures, it is better for business track the location of the devices teenagers who themselves are
interests to put more pressure on and uses in order that citizens can often victims of crime, and we must
the police who are paid to enforce challenge their use through the remember that they will be soon be
the law.” courts as discriminatory among taxpayers.”
“It is one thing to follow up young people. Chakrabarti also does not have a
references on new employees who Liberty is part of the Buzz Off problem with Boris Johnson’s crime
may have criminal records, but it is initiative fighting the deployment mapping idea in order to get
entirely another to have of the devices and is using its voice London to prioritise policing,
information upon them on a to raise awareness through the providing it does not hold sensitive
database they know nothing media. personal detail that flies in the face
about, especially if the information Chakrabarti describes Mosquito as of the data protection regulations.
is erroneous – it could refer to the ‘a dog whistle for young people “It is common sense really that
wrong person and they would have and children’. businesses that are victims of crime
no redress. Retailers cannot have Although she is less damning of should try and get the enforcers to
their own gated legal system that the use of some stores to use take it more seriously by coming
runs in tandem with the criminal alternatives such as classical music together to talk about the
justice system because there are to drive away unwanted gangs geography of an area, providing it
simply no checks and balances.” from outside shops (see page 7), she does not involve individuals data
“Business needs to be built upon has an issue with the discriminatory and a kind of business vigilante
trust and choice – if you have Chakrabarti: nature of the perception of young mentality.
handed over information on “Retailers people. She describes the system in
someone on a database they know cannot have “I have no problem of using Germany where they take freedom
nothing about, and it is wrong, it is their own Mozart to stop anti social behaviour and privacy issues very seriously.
you who may be held to account.” gated legal when it is taking place, but it is a “Here is an example where they
Liberty has also launched a system” terrible thing to claim that all know that during the beer festivals
they may see a rise in anti-social
behaviour so they deploy more
police and mobile cameras into
these areas during that time and
take them away again afterwards.
It is a sensible and proportionate
use of resources.”
Chakrabarti’s view of the world is
based upon an optimistic view of
human nature that even in our
darkest times we are fundamentally
good and will help each other. She
was reminded of this when she saw
a documentary about the survivors
of the London tube bombings
when, in the darkness and acrid
smoke of the tunnel a Muslim
woman removed her Hijab to help a
fellow survivor who was suffering
from asthma.
“Through our liberty and by
preserving our dignity as citizens
will come our security because we
can do more if we trust each other
and pull together to balance
surveillance and data sharing with
our personal privacy.” RF
ISSUE 2 SEPTEMBER 2008 • 17
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