For two years now, since new legislation was enacted to once again allow local authorities use CCTV to catch illegal dumpers, Dublin City Council has been endeavouring to put together a scheme that will satisfy data protection regulations.
This has involved working with the Local Government Management Agency to develop a code of practice and with the Data Protection Commission in relation to the collection and use of data, as well as many internal meetings.
That is before the council even gets to the point of selecting a location for an anti-litter camera. Before erecting a camera, the council must produce a report demonstrating the rationale for its deployment. It must detail all the requests it received to remove rubbish from the location as well as its responses to those requests, and all the steps it had taken to prevent dumping at the site, short of resorting to a camera.
Then, the council must prepare a business case, complete a site-specific Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA), and undertake local consultation. A plan for the installation of the camera will then be presented to the executive manager with responsibility for the waste division. If approved, it will go to a new oversight board for consideration. Finally, if the board recommends the camera installation, it must go to council chief executive Richard Shakespeare for sign-off.
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The council has determined the data rules are such that it can only use footage from the camera to prosecute people caught flinging bags onto the street from their cars and not people who arrive to dump rubbish on foot. This may have an application in rural local authority areas, and possibly in some suburban settings in Dublin, and at bottle and clothing banks. However, it is unlikely to do anything to clean up inner city areas where many dumpers arrive on foot.
The effort put in by the city council to develop the CCTV scheme is clear. But across other areas of the State system, is there a reluctance about the use of camera-based enforcement for the deterrence, detection and prosecution of dumpers?