Surveillance cameras have been placed outside the Legislative Council building without any warning they exist, drawing criticism from lawmakers and rights groups and a rebuke from the privacy watchdog.
At least eight permanent closed-circuit cameras and two temporary cameras were found to have been installed on and around the building by the Legco secretariat and the police.
The lack of a warning that the area - scene of a fracas between police and anti-budget protesters last month - is under electronic surveillance breaches a privacy guideline and prompted privacy commissioner Allan Chiang Yam-wang to have what his office termed 'a dialogue' with the secretariat. The office said later that 'notification would be posted shortly to draw attention of people concerned that the area is under CCTV surveillance'.
A 'guidance note' on surveillance practices issued by the commissioner in July last year stated that 'people should be explicitly informed that they are subject to CCTV surveillance'.
Lawmakers said many of the cameras were unnecessary and called for them to be removed, keeping only those needed for security of the building. 'Public who join protests outside Legco will be under a threat that they are all under surveillance,' pan-democrat unionist Lee Cheuk-yan said.
The eight permanent cameras were installed by the secretariat and the temporary ones by police.