Police plans for Halifax bar surveillance cameras cause concerns

CBC | Dec 31, 2007

The Halifax bar where 38 people were arrested after a brawl last week may become the first in Canada to allow police and liquor inspectors to monitor its security cameras over the internet, a plan that worries privacy experts.

The Dome nightclub was briefly shut down by the Alcohol and Gaming Authority after a fight in the bar spilled out onto Argyle Street early last Monday morning.

In order to reopen, the bar offered police and liquor inspectors the right to monitor their security cameras.

But not everyone likes the idea.

One patron, Mary-Anne Hietala said the problem of violence appears to be getting worse, but she doesn’t like the idea of police officers watching her on a surveillance camera.

“They’re going to have us online there. They’re probably going to be looking up stuff about us. It’s getting crazy. I mean it really is. I know they have to do something, but they’ve got to find something else,” Hietala said.

Labour and Environment Minister Mark Parent said the cameras will be used only to watch for outbreaks of violence.

But he admits it would be possible for liquor inspectors to use the surveillance cameras to check up on underage drinking and other liquor law infractions.

That’s something that worries privacy lawyer David Fraser.

“I wonder how much thought went into putting in place the adequate controls to make sure this information is managed appropriately, so that only the people who have a real need to know any of this information have access to it,” he said.

Fraser said the province needs to establish strict rules about how long videos can be archived, who can look at them, and what they can be used for.

So far the Department of Environment and Labour hasn’t decided on any of these issues.