Closed-circuit television cameras installed by private entities overlooking public spaces, as well as dash cams in vehicles, are a boon in terms of curbing anti-social behaviour and crime, but they may be a bane to privacy too.

In Singapore, where there are police cameras and artificial intelligence-operated cameras on the roads, is it necessary for private individuals and corporations to install such cameras of their own?

The Personal Data Protection Commission should publish updated guidelines on surveillance equipment overlooking common corridors in private residential estates and public spaces.Private entities wishing to install such cameras should be made to get a permit and display it prominently. Similar guidelines are in force in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.

Lee Kwet Ngiap

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/private-entities-should-be-required-to-get-permits-to-install-cctvs